BYD, backed by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, prices follow-up stock sale mid-range to step up research in EV batteries

BYD, the Chinese battery and electric carmaker backed by the US investor Warren Buffett, has set the final offer price of its follow-on share sale at HK$276 per share, helping it to raise about US$1.8 billion in what amounts to its second placement in nine months.

The final offer price was set at about the midpoint of a range that was marketed to investors late last week, at between HK$273.5 (US$35.16) and HK$279.5 per share, for a discount of about 6.9 per cent to its Friday closing price in Hong Kong, BYD said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Monday.

The Shenzhen-based electric vehicle maker will issue 50 million new shares, about 1.8 per cent of its enlarged issued share capital to no fewer than six new investors. The new shares begin trading Monday.

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Goldman Sachs, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and Bank of America are the joint global coordinators and placement agents of the sale.

BYD's e2 electric vehicle (EV) on display during the media day of the Shanghai Auto Show on April 17, 2019. Photo: Reuters. alt=BYD's e2 electric vehicle (EV) on display during the media day of the Shanghai Auto Show on April 17, 2019. Photo: Reuters.

BYD, controlled by its billionaire founder Wang Chuanfu, is the second-largest maker of battery-powered electric cars in China by volume. Earlier in April, it unveiled its "Qin Plus" sedan for a top price of 166,800 yuan (US$26,000), pricing the model below electric cars made by Tesla, NIO, Xpeng and other competitors aimed for budget-conscious buyers.

"Electrification ...[is] the future development direction of the automobile industry," BYD said, adding that the company is aiming to "achieve an accelerated replacement of fuel vehicles by new energy vehicles through technological innovation."

An undated photograph of BYD's "blade" electric car battery packs coming off the assembly line. Photo: Handout alt=An undated photograph of BYD's "blade" electric car battery packs coming off the assembly line. Photo: Handout

The carmaker's third-quarter net profit fell 27.5 per cent to 1.27 billion yuan, driving BYD's shares 1.7 per cent lower in Friday trading after the earnings were announced the previous night.

BYD said it plans to use the stock sale proceeds to supplement its working capital, repay debt, invest in research and development and for general corporate purposes.

The group is looking at the prospect of raising more funds, having received the approval to spin off its semiconductor unit on ChiNext, the Nasdaq-style tech board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The spin-off is still awaiting the China Securities Regulatory Commission's approval. BYD is already trading on the Shenzhen bourse's main board.

The US billionaire investor Warren Buffett owned 21.5 per cent of BYD's Hong Kong-traded stocks as of June 30, with a 7.9 per cent stake in the entire company, according to the battery maker's first-quarter report.

BYD last tapped the equities market in January, raising HK$29.8 billion. It said it had spent all the proceeds raised by the first half this year, primarily on research and development and repaying existing debt.

BYD shares fell 4.4 per cent in Hong Kong to HK$283.6 in morning trading on Monday, having risen 46 per cent this year.

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