GAC Aian raised nearly 18.3 billion in Series A, setting the industry’s largest single private equity record

GAC Group disclosed the latest progress of the A-round financing of GAC Aeon. At present, all strategic investors have completed the signing and payment of the financing introduction agreement. A total of 53 strategic investors were introduced in the A round of financing, with a total financing of 18.294 billion yuan, setting a new record for the largest single private equity financing in the domestic new energy vehicle industry. After the completion of the capital increase, the valuation of Aeon is 103.239 billion yuan, which is the highest valuation of unlisted new energy vehicle companies in China. GAC Group still directly and indirectly holds 76.89% of the shares of GAC Aeon and is the controlling shareholder.

The transaction was carried out through public listing on the Guangzhou Equity Exchange. The original plan was to raise about 15 billion yuan for the future development of Aian. After the listing, the enthusiasm for investment and subscription far exceeded expectations, and more than 100 companies in various industries rushed to invest, and Aian became the most valuable investment target in the field of new energy vehicles. After several rounds of negotiation and competition, 53 investors with strategic support, industrial synergy, market influence, and policy guidance were selected to actively contribute to the development of Aeon.

This capital increase and share expansion will help Aeon to form a more complete equity structure, a more market-oriented corporate governance structure and operation mechanism, and further strengthen the resource allocation and market competitiveness of the entire value chain. After the completion of the introduction and capital increase, Aion’s endogenous development momentum and market vitality will be further stimulated, and the profitability of Aion and GAC Group will also be activated simultaneously.

Introduce a number of industry giants to speed up the layout of Aion’s “EV+ICV” full-stack self-research

At present, the technological level of my country’s new energy automobile industry has been significantly improved, and the industrial system has become more and more perfect. It is transforming from high-speed development to high-quality development. Under the guidance of the national industrial policy and the strong support of provincial and municipal governments, GAC Aeon has explored a path for the development of intelligent network-connected new energy vehicles with “GAC characteristics”—it has become one of the few domestically-owned vehicles with continuous technological innovation. It is one of the car companies with full-stack self-research capabilities of “EV+ICV” (Electrification + Intelligence).

This round of financing has introduced strategic support and industrial collaborative investors in the fields of charging and swapping energy ecology, key battery resources, chip design and manufacturing, intelligent driving vehicle-road collaboration, etc. It has the advantages of strategic industrial resources; it has improved GAC Aeon’s industrial chain and supply chain in terms of energy ecology, battery materials, automotive chips, etc. to ensure stable supply; It provides sufficient financial support for the R&D and industrialization of core technologies such as R&D and industrialization, intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit and production capacity assurance; it will help Aeon continue to innovate and make breakthroughs in the field of new energy vehicles, greatly improving and strengthening Comprehensive competitive advantage for future development.

At present, the pace of Aian’s approach to the capital market has become faster and more stable. In the future, with the stable holding of GAC Group and the support of a number of strategic investors, Aian will participate in the market competition with a more market-oriented organizational structure and incentive mechanism. The strong financial background will also be the main business of GAC Aian. The development provides stronger support to help it continue to improve its corporate governance structure, provide more world-class products and services, continue to lead, and become the world’s high-end smart electric vehicle brand as soon as possible.

Second expansion of production capacity + monthly sales exceeded 30,000 Aian, showing strong market leadership

On October 12, AION’s second intelligent manufacturing center was completed and put into production. With the rollout of the first new car, AION Y Plus, AION made another breakthrough in production capacity. This is the second time that Aian has completed capacity expansion this year. The overall planned production capacity of Aian has exceeded 400,000, and the maximum production capacity can reach 600,000 under multi-shift production. Once again, the most distinctive “Aian speed” has been achieved. The completion of the second intelligent manufacturing center is expected to enable Aian to cross the watershed of automobile profitability with scale effect and enter the stage of comprehensive profitability.

Behind the continuous expansion is the support of Aian’s fast-growing sales volume. Since the launch of the first model in 2019, Aion has achieved rapid sales growth at a compound annual growth rate of over 122%. In the context of repeated epidemics, tight supply chains, and rising material costs this year, Aeon has continued to maintain rapid growth. The monthly sales in September have exceeded the 30,000 mark, and the cumulative sales from January to September this year have exceeded 180,000 vehicles. In the fourth quarter, as the traditional peak season of the automobile sales market, the sales volume of Ai’an will reach a new high, and it is expected to achieve the high target of annual sales of 300,000 vehicles.

In the future, Aeon will further transform towards electrification and intelligence, and strive to achieve breakthroughs and seize opportunities in the increasingly fierce competition in the new energy market. At the same time, the “industry + technology” two-wheel-driven intelligent manufacturing ecology established by Aeon will also promote the high-quality and high-speed development of GAC Group. While ensuring the steady improvement of the group’s profitability, it will also expand China’s new energy and even global new energy. The established path of energy development.