From Appliance Maker to Electric Bus Maker
GUANGZHOU — Gree Electric Appliances of Zhuhai will acquire Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy, a manufacturer of electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries in a 13 billion yuan ($1.95 billion) stock swap.
Announced on Friday, China’s largest air conditioner maker is betting on electric cars now that the era of rapid growth has ended for the appliance market.
Yinlong, a startup formed in 2009 and also based in Zhuhai, has an annual capacity of 33,000 electric buses between a plant in its Guangdong Province home city and two more in Hebei Province. The company built 3,189 units last year, making it the seventh-largest electric-bus manufacturer in China. Yinlong rang up revenue of 3.86 billion yuan in 2015.
Gree is not the only Chinese appliance manufacturer diversifying operations, as shown by Midea Group a manufacturer of home and commercial electric appliances, bid 3.7 billion euro ($4.19 billion) takeover of German robotics company Kuka. News published by AsiaNikkeiCom
