USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文双语Français
China
Home / China / Business

Samsung pays $449m for stake in BYD

By Fan Feifei and Sun Ruisheng | China Daily Europe | Updated: 2016-07-31 16:00

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has paid 3 billion yuan ($449 million; 408 million euros) for a stake in Chinese electric-car maker BYD Co Ltd, which is backed by US billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Shanghai Samsung Semiconductor, a unit of the South Korean company, has bought 52.26 million shares at 57.4 yuan a share in a private placement that raised 14.5 billion yuan in total, according to BYD on July 21.

The investment gives Samsung a 1.92 percent stake, making it the ninth-largest investor in the company.

BYD intends to use the proceeds of the private placement to fund an expansion in lithium-ion batteries production and research and development in new energy vehicles.

The smartphone and memory chipmaker said last week that an investment in BYD would strengthen Samsung's semiconductor business for cars. The two companies plan to cooperate in e-vehicle components and promote automotive-related businesses.

Last year, China surpassed the United States for the first time to become the world's biggest e-vehicle market. The Chinese government wants the sales of e-vehicles to exceed 3 million units by 2025.

Electronics makers like Samsung are competing for a slice of automotive sales as carmakers use more electronic sensors and displays in their push for more automated vehicles.

BYD has 24 production hubs in China, and the company is to build a battery factory in Qinghai province. A new factory in Shanxi province is also expected to manufacture up to 5,000 e-cars, 5,000 electric special-purpose vehicles and 2,000 trucks for industrial and mining works annually.

Du Xiaoying contributed to this story.

 Samsung pays $449m for stake in BYD

BYD cars on display at an auto show in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. Provided to China Daily

Editor's picks
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US