China EV Trio NIO applied for Hong Kong listing in March 2021. Hong Kong Stock Exchange inquired on company structure, which included a user trust. However, it is unlikely to realize before spring 2022, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Back in 2018, CEO of NIO William Li stated in the IPO prospectus that NIO will grow with users and IPO of NIO will make the company a truly user-centric company. William Li pledged one-third of his NIO stock, which become 50 million shares, and granted users the opportunity to sell the proceeds. The NIO User Trust, which was founded in January 2019, had a market capitalization of $328 million at the time.
As listing process in Hong Kong is blocked, NIO turns to consider Singapore, potentially raising 1.9 billion US dollars according to source. However, a researcher from a private equity fund said that although NIO hopes to go public, it does not mean that he does not have insufficient capital. They just hope that the IPO process will not go wrong. “NIO are not in a hurry.” Indeed, according to the financial report last November, NIO currently holds about RMB 47 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter last year.
For now, NIO said on January 26 that the company will not respond to market rumours. Stay tuned for more information.
