Nio to raise $1.7 billion for autonomous driving, global expansion

Nasdaq-listed Chinese electric carmaker Nio said Monday it is offering 88.5 million American depositary shares to raise around $1.7 billion.

It marks the largest additional offering in China's premium electric vehicle industry.

Morgan Stanley, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited and BofA Securities are underwriters for the ADS Offering.

Nio said a big chunk of the expected proceeds, around $750 million, will be used for research and development in autonomous driving, global expansion and general corporate purposes.

In an interview in July, Nio founder and CEO William Li said the company is to sell cars in overseas markets and is preparing in terms of products and personnel.

Nio will also spend $600 of the proceeds to increase the share capital of its ownership in Nio China, a joint venture between Nio and local investors in Hefei, Anhui province.

The startup said the rest will be used to repurchase equity interests held by some minority shareholders of Nio China.

Nio sold 17,702 vehicles in the first seven months this year, bringing its cumulative deliveries to 49,615 vehicles.

It is offering two models in the market, the ES6 and the ES8 SUVs. The third model, a 5-seat electric coupe SUV called EC6, is to hit the market soon.

Nio's gross margin reached 8.4 percent in the second quarter this year, and the gross profit stood at $44.3 million.

The company expects revenues in the third quarter to reach $572.9 million to $596.2 million, up around 8.8 percent to 13.3 percent from the second quarter.