Hot stock: Nio jumps over 20% on news of strategic investment in China unit

The last time the counter reached such levels was in January, when it traded above US$7.60

SHARES of Nio rose by 21.9 per cent on Monday (Sep 30) following news that strategic investors will invest around 3.3 billion yuan (S$602.6 million) into its China unit Nio Holding Co, also known as Nio China.

At 9.36 am, the Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer counter rose US$1.36 or 21.9 per cent to a high of US$7.58 after 386,550 securities changed hands.

The last time the counter reached such levels was in January, when it traded above US$7.60.

By 11.50 am, it had eased slightly to U$7.39 before the mid-day trading break, but it was still up US$1.17 or 18.8 per cent. It was still one of the most actively traded counters in terms of volume, with 916,810 shares transacted.

No married deals were recorded in early trade, ShareInvestor data indicated.

On Sunday, Nio announced that its China unit would receive 3.3 billion yuan from strategic investors for newly issued shares.

This comes on top of an additional 10 billion yuan that Nio will pump into its China unit’s new shares, and brings the total investment received by Nio China to around 13.3 billion yuan.

The transactions will reduce Nio’s holding in its China unit from 92.1 per cent to 88.3 per cent, and the remaining 11.7 per cent will be held by the strategic investors among other stakeholders.

This injection comes amid the electric-vehicle maker’s expansion of its charging infrastructure and battery-swapping technology – which, alongside research and development spending on non-auto areas such as semiconductors, are part of its efforts to gain a competitive edge.