Chinese EV maker Nio has acquired a stake in Australian lithium firm Greenwing, CnEVPost reported on Monday.
The companies entered into a strategic financing deal, pursuant to which Nio (NIO) agreed to pay A$12M to subscribe for ~21.82M Greenwing shares at a deemed issue price of A$0.55/share.
Nio (NIO) will hold ~12.16% of Greenwing upon completion of the transaction. It will also have the right to be nominated to the company's board of directors as long as it continues to own at least 10% of the shares.
The strategic funding enables Greenwing to accelerate exploration program at the San Jorge Lithium Project in Argentina, aligning Nio (NIO) as its potential JV and offtake partner.
The automaker has a call option to acquire between 20% and 40% of the issued capital of Andes Litio, a firm that owns the rights to the lithium project.
The call option is exercisable within 365 days of the issuance or acquisition of the JORC report for the project and, if realized, could result in an exercise price of between $40M and $80M, CnEVPost wrote.
Greenwing has agreed to ensure that a JORC report on the San Jorge Lithium Project is issued by Dec 31, 2023.
Nio (NIO) will have direct offtake production rights to the project upon exercise of the call option.
The deal appears to be the latest in steps Nio (NIO) is taking to prepare for a longer-term future of access to battery raw material supplies. In June, the company had outlined plans to develop batteries.
U.S. listed shares of Nio (NIO) have gained around 1% premarket