Jinshajiang Capital will acquire Nissan Leaf Battery Supplier AESC

On the 25th, sources said that with the support of the Hubei Provincial Government, Jinshajiang Capital is approaching the acquisition of Nissan's battery business at a price of about US$1 billion.

About 1 billion US dollars, Chuan Jinsha Capital will acquire Nissan's battery business

According to media reports on May 26, sources said that Jinshajiang Capital is in deep negotiations with Nissan to acquire the controlling stake in Automotive Energy Supply Corp (AESC). AESC is a joint venture between Nissan and NEC Corp. Nissan currently holds 51% of AESC and NEC holds the remaining shares. Mainly for the production of lithium-ion power batteries for electric vehicles. It is expected that the parties will announce a deal within the next two weeks. The Yangtze River Industry Fund, supported by the Hubei Provincial Government, will provide 20% of the funds needed for the acquisition.

As the global giant of electric vehicle battery manufacturers, in 2016, AESC ranked fourth in the world after shipments of 1622MWh, second only to Panasonic, BYD and LG Chemical.

Jinshajiang Venture Capital has invested in the field of electric vehicles for many years. The investment company is close to covering the entire industrial chain of electric vehicles, including automotive design company Alte, lithium iron phosphate cathode material manufacturer Likai, and wheel motor manufacturer Prostar. Protean Electric, ternary lithium battery manufacturer Boston-Power, etc.

The value concern is that in the acquisition of Nissan Battery Business, the Yangtze River Industry Fund supported by the Hubei Provincial Government will provide 20% of the funds needed for the acquisition. Hubei Province recently announced that it will invest 547 billion yuan in clean energy and other fields. Hubei Province has Dongfeng Motor, the second largest automaker in mainland China. It is reported that Jinshajiang Capital is considering transferring part of AESC production to Hubei.

Previously, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan Motor Co., publicly stated, "We must open up competition in the battery business to ensure access to the battery. In the current situation, we believe that the battery manufacturer of ** is LG Chem."

In August 2016, Reuters reported that Nissan Motor Co. is in contact with overseas companies such as Panasonic and China, or to sell its controlling stake in AESC, a car battery manufacturing joint venture. Insiders revealed that Nissan wants to sell its 51% stake in AESC. The Nikkei News also reported that Nissan sought to acquire shares from other manufacturers because it could buy cheaper batteries from other manufacturers for its electric vehicles such as the wind. However, the Nissan mail replied at the time, "The sale is only a guess of the media, the company has not issued any announcements." Panasonic and NEC refused to comment on this news.