Chery IPO rumors have resurfaced, and there is a far-reaching layout behind the valuation of 50 billion yuan.

Recently, heavy news came out in the market. Legend Rui Holding Group is considering splitting its automobile business and listing it in Hong Kong, with an estimated market value of about 50 billion yuan. This dynamic has not only brought a new turn for Chery’s listing, but also aroused widespread concern in the entire automobile industry.

As one of the few automobile group companies in China that have not yet landed in the capital market, Chery’s listing process can be described as twists and turns. Then, can this spin-off listing become a key leap for Chery to realize its dream of listing?

The road to listing is full of twists and turns

Since its establishment in 1997, Chery Holding Co., Ltd. has developed from a single automobile manufacturer into a comprehensive enterprise covering automobile, finance, real estate, service, intelligence and parts manufacturing, and its business footprint covers more than 80 countries and regions around the world. However, despite remarkable achievements in business scale and market share, Chery’s road to listing is extremely difficult.

Chery automobile has been preparing for the IPO for nearly 20 years since the listing plan was first announced in 2004. At that time, Anhui Province actively promoted the listing of Chery and implemented the share reform. However, despite its outstanding performance, Chery’s initial listing attempt finally failed due to factors such as unclear equity relationship with SAIC.

Around 2006, JAC was in trouble. As the two major automobile manufacturers in Anhui Province, it was once reported in the market that Chery and JAC might merge and go public and cross-hold shares, which brought JAC the hope of getting out of trouble. But unfortunately, Chery failed to be the savior of Jianghuai. With the approval of Jianghuai car project, it successfully saved itself, and the rumors of merger with Chery also vanished.

Since then, Chery has repeatedly suffered setbacks on the road to listing. In 2015, Chery Huiyin, its joint venture company, failed to hit Hong Kong stocks and A shares. In 2016, Chery New Energy tried to achieve "backdoor listing" through conch profiles, but it also failed to do so. As an old-fashioned independent brand car company, Chery’s repeated failures are undoubtedly regrettable. However, Chery has not given up, but has been actively preparing for listing.

In 2020, Chery introduced Qingdao Wudaokou Capital; In 2022, Luxshare became a new strategic investor of Chery. According to the latest plan, Chery plans to complete the A-share IPO by 2025. Two years ago, Yin Tongyue, Party Secretary and Chairman of Chery Holding Company, made it clear that in order to broaden the financing channels, it was hoped that Chery Automobile could successfully go public before 2025, so as to promote the company’s new round of transformation.

The main purpose of enterprise listing is financing. Chery’s capital demand has always been well known to the industry. Yin Tongyue once admitted that Chery’s early capital investment was limited, and it has not been listed, and it has not issued bonds in the capital market in recent years. Therefore, in the process of rapid development, Chery’s capital demand mainly depends on bank financing. Landing in the capital market will not only help Chery to establish a long-term capital replenishment channel, but also activate its equity incentive mechanism. From the initial listing plan in 2004 to the completion of the capital increase and share expansion project in 2019, Chery’s listing road has been tried many times, but it failed for various reasons. Now, with the news of the spin-off and listing of the automobile business, Chery has once again taken a solid step towards the capital market.

Multiple considerations behind the valuation of 50 billion yuan

As early as the end of last year, there were rumors that Chery Automobile was preparing to go public this year, and the listing place was initially designated as the mainland, with a valuation as high as 150 billion yuan. However, the valuation of this IPO in Hong Kong has been adjusted to 50 billion yuan, which is significantly reduced compared with previous rumors. Behind this change, there are multiple factors such as the uncertainty of the global automobile market, the fierce competition of the new energy automobile industry and the fluctuation of the Hong Kong stock market.

Under the background of global supply chain bottleneck, rising raw material prices and increasingly fierce market competition, the profitability of auto companies is facing severe challenges, and investors are becoming more cautious about the valuation expectations of auto companies. At the same time, the competition in the new energy automobile industry is becoming more and more fierce, which makes investors conservative about the future growth potential of Chery Automobile. In addition, the overall poor performance of the Hong Kong stock market, especially the fluctuations in technology stocks and new energy vehicles, also affected Chery’s valuation.

Nevertheless, the spin-off listing is still of great significance to Chery. Through direct financing in the capital market, Chery can obtain more funds for R&D and market expansion, especially in frontier areas such as new energy vehicles and smart driving. At the same time, listing will also help attract strategic investors and partners and inject more resources and support into the company’s long-term development.

In order to have a deeper understanding of the prospect of Chery’s spin-off and listing, "Auto Talk" interviewed a number of industry experts and analysts. They generally believe that the spin-off and listing will help Chery to focus more on the main automobile industry and improve its operational efficiency and market competitiveness. Through listing, Chery can more clearly define the strategic objectives and market positioning of the automobile business, and optimize the resource allocation and management system.

However, some analysts have warned that Chery needs to pay close attention to the changes in the market environment and competitive situation, and formulate practical strategic planning and marketing strategies. In addition, before the spin-off, Chery needs to strengthen its internal management and enhance its brand image to ensure the long-term and stable development of the company.

According to Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Holding Group Co., Ltd., Chery will be split and listed in the future, and will be laid out in many fields such as new energy, artificial intelligence, mobile travel service and core components. Through the spin-off, Chery can build a multi-sector listed company cluster, realize the diversification and coordinated development of its business, and thus enhance its overall competitiveness and anti-risk ability.

Generally speaking, the news that Chery intends to spin off its auto business and go public has brought new hopes and opportunities for the company’s future development. Despite many challenges and uncertainties, Chery has not given up its dream of going public. Through the spin-off, Chery is expected to improve the efficiency of capital operation and financing ability, focus on the main automobile industry and enhance brand value and market competitiveness, conform to the development trend of the automobile industry and seize market opportunities.