Evergrande’s Swedish electric cars in sales talks, says CEO
STOCKHOLM, October 15 (Reuters) – The Swedish electric car unit in China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) is in talks with American and European venture capital companies and industrial partners to find new owners, said its top manager when its Chinese parent struggles fall to more than 300 billion dollars in debt.
National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), which is owned by the Chinese property developer, has the means to hold “for a good while”, says its CEO Stefan Tilk and added that several investors showed interest in the company.
He declined to comment on a possible valuation. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that the device could be valued at as much as $ 1 billion.
Evergrande has already missed three rounds of interest payments on its international bonds and has struggled to sell some of its assets to raise money. Read more
The Chinese real estate developer has spent billions of dollars on investments in car technology developers, including NEVS. It also has joint ventures with German Hofer and Sweden’s Koenigsegg.
NEVS, which received a manufacturing permit for electric cars in China four years ago, is the Swedish arm of the Evergrande EV unit Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (0708.HK).
Tilk said that NEVS is discussing a potential sale or other financing mainly with European and American companies, but declined to name them.
“We are in dialogue with both venture people and companies who have the same idea and focus as us and want to get into this with our full competence,” he told Reuters. “So they are both industrial partners and venture capitalists.”
Evergrande NEV warned in stock exchange announcements last month that it was still looking for new investors and to make asset sales, and that without anything it could struggle to pay employees’ salaries and cover other expenses.
Tilk added that NEVS, which announced the dismissal of almost half of its approximately 650 employees in August, could hire staff again to get the skills Evergrande wants in Europe if it survives the crisis.
“If Evergrande can continue their business, which they hope to do, they will be interested in having a footprint in Europe, with infrastructure such as a facility, tests, laboratories. And we have,” he said.
Meanwhile, NEVS, which bought the car manufacturer Saab’s assets in 2012, is focusing on building its mobility ecosystem PONS, an autonomous network for sharing travel for smart cities and universities.
Reporting by Helena Soderpalm in Stockholm and Krystal Hu in New York; Edited by Sumeet Chatterjee and Jan Harvey
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