Harneys advises CH-AUTO on go-public merger with Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. IV
Harneys acted as Cayman Islands counsel to CH-AUTO Technology Corporation Ltd. (“CH-AUTO”), a Chinese automotive manufacturer, in relation to their plan to go public via a merger with Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. IV (Nasdaq: MCAF), a Delaware corporation formed as a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”). The parties entered into a definitive merger agreement on 2 May 2022. Upon the closing of the merger, the combined group will operate under CH AUTO Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company whose shares will be traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The transaction, expected to close in Q4 2022, bears an initial equity value of approximately US$1.25 billion.
Headquartered in Beijing, CH-AUTO specialises in electric vehicle manufacturing, automotive design service and automotive parts manufacturing. It is a design service provider to major mainstream Chinese auto brands such as Geely, Chery, FAW and GAC. Its wholly-owned subsidiary Qiantu Motor launched in production Qiantu K50 China’s first all-electric urban super sports car in 2018.
The Harneys team was led by Shanghai Corporate Partner Calamus Huang, supported by Senior Associate Lily Zhang.
Calamus commented: “We are delighted to have assisted our client in successfully signing the transaction. We are honoured to be the trusted offshore legal counsel to clients in complex transactions like this one.”
The corporate team at Harneys has a leading Equity Capital Markets (ECM) practice with substantial experience regarding all aspects of capital raising by offshore companies, including IPOs and secondary offerings, rights issues, equity linked securities, including convertible and exchangeable bonds, SPACs and business combinations, as well as private placements, take-privates, takeovers and spin-offs. The firm’s ECM expertise lie in advising entities listed or listing on all major stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, the London Stock Exchange, AIM, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
