China’s electric vehicle companies are pouring into the Middle East where both investors and consumers have a growing appetite for the country’s Tesla challengers.

Shanghai-based Nio announced Tuesday that CYVN Holdings, a smart mobility-focused investment vehicle majority owned by the Abu Dhabi government, will invest a total of $738.5 million in the Chinese EV maker.

Nio, which is listed on NYSE, will issue 84,695,543 Class A ordinary shares at $8.72 apiece. In addition, CYVN has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of Tencent, which invested in Nio back in 2017, to purchase 40,137,614 Class A ordinary shares from the social and gaming giant.

Upon completion of the deals, the Abu Dhabi-backed firm will own a roughly 7% stake in Nio.

BYD, which is quickly catching up on Tesla’s global market share, announced its entry into the UAE in March through a partnership with local distributor Al-Futtaim, with plans to bring four of its models, including all-electric and hybrid vehicles, to the Middle Eastern country.

More to come…

Abu Dhabi pours $738.5M into China’s Tesla challenger Nio by Rita Liao originally published on TechCrunch