Hyperdrive
Warren Buffett-Backed Electric Vehicle Maker Plans Battery Unit IPO
- Listing to take place by end of 2022, location not yet decided
- Shares of world’s biggest battery maker CATL tripled in 2018
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BYD Co., the electric-car maker backed by Warren Buffett, plans to list its battery business by 2022 to raise funds to expand as the global auto industry transitions away from the traditional combustion engine.
The listing will occur sometime by the end of 2022 and the company hasn’t decided yet where the shares will be trading, Chairman Wang Chuanfu said in an interview with Bloomberg News Wednesday at its headquarters in Shenzhen. BYD, which makes batteries for automobiles and mobile phones, is in the process of spinning off its vehicle-battery operations into a separate company before listing. It isn’t clear yet whether the IPO will be for the car-battery business alone, or will also include other units.