Byton plans to seek a backdoor listing as early as this year

According to foreign media reports, people familiar with the matter disclosed that Chinese electric car manufacturer Byton is in talks with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and plans to go public through a merger.

Two sources, who did not want to be named, said that Byton is negotiating with potential SPAC companies and investors on listing matters, and plans to go public as early as this year. Byton’s major shareholders include China’s state-owned automobile manufacturer FAW Group and electric vehicle battery manufacturer Ningde Times, in addition to the support of Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn.

(In front of the office building of Byton Nanjing Factory Image source: Weibo Dai Lei, former co-founder of Byton)

In 2017, when Byton first appeared, the company name was FMC: Future Mobility Corporation (literally: Future Mobility Corporation), which was co-founded by former BMW and Nissan executives. But since 2019, Byton has been facing cash flow problems. As the growth of electric vehicle sales in the world's largest auto market has slowed, investors are cautious about investing money in this crowded industry.

At the time, Byton, who was in trouble, was building an automobile plant in Nanjing, but in July last year, the company suspended this effort in order to reorganize the company.

Last month, Byton reached an agreement with Foxconn and Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone to start producing electric SUVs in 2022. A source said that as part of the agreement, Foxconn will invest US$200 million in SUV Ru0026D and production projects, and will help establish a supply chain for electric vehicle production to reduce vehicle manufacturing costs.

Byton declined to comment. Foxconn said in a statement that the company is currently focusing on optimizing the supply chain manufacturing of Byton's new energy vehicles and will not comment on rumors in other markets.

SPAC is a shell company that raises funds through an initial public offering to acquire an operating entity. This process is usually completed within two years. For automotive technology companies, SPAC has become a fast way to go public. Since the beginning of this year, companies in the electric vehicle industry that have agreed to merge with SPAC include Microvast, Faraday Future and EVgo Services.