Weichai Power has received relevant approvals from the People's Republic of China (PRC) for its proposed equity investment in Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LON:CWR).
The approval covers the initial investment of around £17mln by Weichai through which is till take a 10% stake in Ceres, buying shares at 15.08p a pop, which at the time the deal was announced was an18% premium to the prevailing Ceres share price.
READ: Ceres Power announces partnership with China’s Weichai Power and £17mln potential equity investment
The approval also covers the additional potential equity investment of roughly £23.2mln, which is conditional on the signing of further commercial agreements before November 30 of this year.
Weichai is listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen with a market capitalisation of around US$10bn. It has a strong track record of making strategic investments in businesses around the world, including Société Internationale des Moteurs Baudouin in France, Power Solutions International lnc in the US and KION Group AG in Germany.
Ceres Power and Weichai plan to jointly develop and launch a solid oxide fuel cell range extender system for China’s fast-growing electric powered bus market.
“The strategic partnership with Weichai, with its huge scale, leading market position and manufacturing expertise, has the potential to bring considerable benefits to Ceres and accelerates the commercial adoption of our technology,” said Phil Caldwell, the chief executive officer of Ceres.
“Although focused on delivering fuel cell range extenders in electric buses initially, this partnership provides us with invaluable access to the Chinese market as a whole. This funding will provide important growth capital for Ceres as we scale up the business. We look forward to working alongside Weichai and our other existing partners in developing our world-leading technology and extending its commercial applications across a number of markets and geographies," he added.