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A Dubai-based green mobility solutions start-up has announced plans to invest $500 million in the electric vehicle unit of defaulted property firm China Evergrande Group.
The capital injection will give NWTN a 27.50% stake in the China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (NEV), with the proposed transaction expected to close in Q4 2023, subject to approvals.
Following Tuesday’s announcement, NEV’s shares jumped nearly 50% as it revealed plans to repay a $3.2 billion debt. NWTN stated the move would accelerate its development in the electric vehicle space, while proving instrumental to address EV needs in the Middle East.
The green mobility company, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Alan Nan Wu, has a EV assembly facility in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), which is part of AD Ports Group.
The company also announced it has been strategically expanding its business in growing markets in the Middle East, North Africa and China.
The EV market in the UAE has been forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 30% between 2022 and 2028, according to an Arthur D. Little report, with the willingness to adapt to EVs placing the country in the 8th position of the global electric mobility readiness index last year.
The UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI) also announced in July that 50% of all cars would be electric by 2050, lending support to Dubai’s own goal to have 42,000 EVs on its roads by 2030.
(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
