BMW Gains Right to Invest in CATL Chinese Battery Maker
BMW AG’s joint venture in China has been given government permission to invest as much as 2.9 billion yuan ($425 million) in Chinese batterymaking giant CATL.
BMW AG’s joint venture in China has been given government permission to invest as much as 2.9 billion yuan ($425 million) in Chinese batterymaking giant CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.).
The agreement gives BMW Brilliance the right to buy about 2% of the company, Bloomberg News reports. CATL already has set up joint ventures or received equity investments from three Chinese carmakers.
BMW separately has agreed to prepay 2.9 billion yuan on a long-term contract with CATL to supply it with batteries for electrified vehicles made in China. The carmaker also will pay 815 million yuan ($122 million) to prepare to make BMW-specific batteries.
The German carmaker announced two weeks ago it plans to buy about €4 billion ($4.7 billion) worth of battery cells from a factory CATL is building in Germany to supply the European market.
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