Today, two years had passed since the birth of the Lantu brand. However, the sprint speed of Lantu after breaking 10,000 vehicles was obviously slower than expected. Compared to the top several new energy brands, Lantu’s sales were also pulled apart.
For the "slow" at this stage, Lantu has been prescribing the right medicine and gradually resuming the rhythm of rising. At the same time, it seems to be approaching the IPO step by step.
On November 18, Lantu Automotive announced that it had completed the signing and delivery of the financing agreement for the A round.
Lantu Auto’s Series A financing was actually officially launched in December 2021 and has been in the works for a long time. On August 1 this year, the capital increase information began to be pre-disclosed on the Shanghai United Equity Exchange. It was officially listed on September 13 and ended on October 13.
According to the Lantu official, the total amount of A round of financing is nearly 5 billion yuan, and the market valuation of Lantu after financing is nearly 30 billion yuan. After this round of financing, Lantu will choose the opportunity to continue to carry out subsequent rounds of financing. At the same time, Lantu will also consider the follow-up IPO plan based on the market and regulatory policies.
Rare large-scale financing under the "capital winter"
Entering 2022, the automotive industry has gradually shown a trend of major reshuffle, and the capital markets have become more cautious in betting on new energy vehicle brands. The A round of financing of nearly 5 billion yuan by Lantu Automobile is almost the largest first round of financing in the domestic new energy automobile industry.
Specifically, there are 10 investors in this round of financing of Lantu. Among them, the joint leading investors are the state-owned enterprise mixed reform fund and Bank of China assets, while the following investors include three state-owned capitals of ICBC Investment, Agricultural Bank of China Investment, and Jiaoyin Yuanjing, Wuhan Economic Development Fund, Hubei High-quality Development Fund, and Zhongxin High-tech Investment. Three local state-owned assets, Ganfeng Lithium Industry, Xinwangda Two industries and private capital.
As the big owner, the group invested 900 million yuan. After this round of financing, the group held 78.88% of the shares in Lantu, 12.37% of the A round investors, and 8.75% of the Lantu employee stock ownership platform.
On the one hand, through the introduction of strategic investment, industrial synergy is formed in the upstream and downstream industrial chain, especially the three electricity, marketing ecological cooperation, etc. That is to say, the investors in this round of financing of Lantu Automobile have strategic synergy with Lantu Automobile, and will realize complementary advantages and promote the rapid development of Lantu’s business.
On the other hand, on May 31 this year, the three-year action task of the company’s state-owned enterprise reform was fully completed. As a high-end electric brand that the company has made every effort to build, Lantu Automobile’s financing is also to continue to implement the relevant requirements of the "Double Hundred Enterprises" mixed reform, improve the corporate governance structure, and revitalize the system and mechanism.
According to the plan, this round of financing funds will be used to support Landmap technology research and development, digital system construction, capacity building and marketing investment and other matters related to Landmap’s main business operation and expansion, of which more than 40% of the cost is expected to be used for technology research and development.
Unlike new forces, the background of the "national team" has undoubtedly made Lantu much smoother in the capital markets. However, at the same time, Lantu bears the dual mission of the company’s brand upward and exploring new models of independent brand development, which puts more pressure on Lantu. Therefore, it is likely that Lantu will eventually embark on the road of listing and financing.
What impact does Lantu Auto have on its IPO?
It is not just Lantu that is watching the IPO. Among the new energy vehicle brands incubated by independent traditional car companies, GAC’s Ai’an has officially announced that it will choose the opportunity to attack the IPO, and Avita, JK, etc. have also announced plans for IPO.
As important as Landmap was, they were born with a golden spoon, and they were also a weapon used by car companies to attack the high end. It could be seen that the competition for IPOs from high-end brands of traditional car companies had become increasingly fierce.
In the first half of this year, the entire industry faced the impact of unfavorable external factors such as the epidemic, rising raw material prices, and tight chip supply. During this period, Lantu’s sales also declined. It began to grow month-on-month after June.
According to the official data released, in October this year, Lantu delivered a total of 2,553 new cars, an increase of 154% year-on-year. Since June, the average price of bicycles has exceeded 382,000 yuan. Since August 2021, the Lantu brand has delivered a total of 22,963 new cars.
If you want to IPO, the cumulative sales of Lantu 23,000 vehicles, there is obviously huge room for growth. Of course, Lantu is also strengthening its core competitiveness step by step, especially in the near future, the news of new cars and new technologies is particularly intensive.
First of all, Landmap has a complete technology research and development system and leading technology research and development capabilities. At present, all technologies of Landmap are fully self-developed.
In terms of technology, Landmap has just released the dual layout of ESSA native intelligent electric architecture and central centralized SOA electronic and electrical architecture. The official introduction is that the concept and technology of Landmap ESSA native intelligent electric architecture can meet the technical needs of Landmap in the next 8-10 years; the concept and technology of central centralized SOA electronic and electrical architecture can meet the technical needs of Landmap in the next 5 years. In addition, Landmap also deploys technologies such as solid-state batteries, hydrogen power, and autonomous driving above L4 level.
Secondly, Lantu’s high-end products have spanned three categories of SUVMPV sedans. Among them, Lantu FREE is positioned as a 300,000-class luxury SUV; Lantu Dreamer focuses on the electric luxury MPV market; the third sedan Lantu Chasing Light will debut next month. After that, Lantu still plans to continue the strategic layout of a new car for a year.
In terms of sales channels, it is also stepping up construction. As of October 31 this year, Lantu has opened 168 stores across the country, and its sales and service network covers 85 cities across the country.
In addition, Lantu is also exploring the international market. In February this year, Lantu Auto officially announced its entry into the European market, landing in Norway for the first time. In September, Lantu FREE officially shipped to Norway and will be officially delivered to Norwegian users at the end of November. Following the Norwegian market, Lantu Auto is also planning to enter Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Israel.
The A-round financing of Lantu will undoubtedly help Lantu’s future layout, and at the same time, the more important role may be to enhance internal and external confidence. Although behind Lantu, there is the support of the group in terms of resources, technology, capital, talents, etc., as one of the leaders of the national team’s new energy vehicle manufacturing, in the face of the industry reshuffle, Lantu also needs to play a 12-point spirit and sprint again.
After all, both past experience and current facts prove that the road to high-end has never been easy. At present, there are very few examples of domestic independent brands that have achieved their goals. If Lantu wants to break through, it still needs to practice its internal and external skills.