Chinese electric carmaker Nio Inc. debuted in the Singapore Exchange Ltd. without raising funds, giving investors a third venue to trade its shares after New York and Hong Kong.

The stock opened at $16.90 in the Southeast Asian city and rose as high as $20.28 in early trading. Nio opted for a listing by way of introduction, meaning it didn’t go through a traditional initial public offering process and didn’t raise proceeds. The Singapore secondary shares are fully fungible with the American ones listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Chinese EV maker joins a slew of companies already traded elsewhere that opted to list in Asia through a mechanism that’s quicker and cheaper than an IPO. Having shares available in Hong Kong and Singapore give the company a hedge against the risk of being delisted stateside due to regulatory issues.

Nio said on May 5 it would strive to maintain its listing status in the US and Hong Kong, after disclosing the company has been provisionally identified by the US Securities and Exchange Commission under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act.

Founded in 2014, the company has joined the EV race with a product lineup targeting middle class consumers, offering customer-centric services and an innovative battery swapping model. Like its peers, Nio has faced challenges from higher raw material prices and supply chain disruptions during the Covid outbreak.

It temporarily suspended manufacturing in April as its suppliers in Jilin, Shanghai, and Jiangsu were forced to halt production or postpone shipments due to logistical issues.

Nio’s ADRs are down 47% this year, while the shares in Hong Kong have dropped 22% since their first day of trade on March 10.

Source:
courtesy of BLOOMBERG

by Filipe Pacheco and Chunying Zhang

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