Huayu Automotive to Acquire 49% Stake in SAIC Qingtao for RMB 206 Million: Why is the Auto Parts Leader Venturing into Solid-State Batteries?

On August 27, 2025, Huayu Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: 600741.SH, hereinafter referred to as "Huayu Automotive"), a leading domestic automotive parts enterprise, officially released the "Announcement on the Acquisition of 49% Equity Interest in Shanghai SAIC Qingtao Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and Related - Party Transactions", announcing that it plans to acquire 49% equity interest in Shanghai SAIC Qingtao Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "SAIC Qingtao") held by its controlling shareholder, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "SAIC Group") with its own funds of RMB 205.8969 million (approximately RMB 206 million).

After the completion of this transaction, the equity structure will be changed to 51% held by Qingtao Energy and 49% held by Huayu Automotive. Huayu Automotive will become the second - largest shareholder of SAIC Qingtao. However, since it does not obtain the controlling stake, this transaction will not lead to a change in the scope of Huayu Automotive's consolidated financial statements.

Responding to the Development Needs of the "Intelligent Power" Business

Huayu Automotive is a leading domestic automotive parts supplier, mainly engaged in the R & D, production, and sales of automotive parts. The company's business covers body parts, power drive systems, intelligent driving systems, information and entertainment systems, and automotive interiors.

In recent years, the global automotive industry has been accelerating its transformation towards "intelligence and electrification", and the market penetration rate of new - energy vehicles has been continuously increasing. As one of the core competitiveness of new - energy vehicles, the iteration speed of battery technology directly affects an enterprise's say in the industry transformation.

Against this background, the "Intelligent Power" segment has become one of the core directions of Huayu Automotive's strategic development. This segment covers key parts businesses such as electric drive systems and thermal management systems, and has currently formed a certain market scale and technological advantages. However, there is still much room for improvement in the company's layout in the battery field.

Among them, solid - state batteries (including semi - solid and all - solid - state batteries), as the next - generation power battery technology, have significant advantages such as high energy density, strong safety, and long cycle life. They are considered an important direction to solve the safety and energy density bottlenecks of traditional liquid lithium - ion batteries and are also the core track for future competition in the new - energy vehicle industry chain.

This acquisition of 49% equity interest in SAIC Qingtao is a strategic choice for Huayu Automotive to actively enter the solid - state battery field based on the development needs of its "Intelligent Power" segment business. The aim is to quickly fill the business gap and achieve a coordinated layout of the upstream and downstream of the industry chain by integrating high - quality external resources.

"Evaluation + State - owned Assets Filing": Double Safeguards

The buyer and seller of this transaction are Huayu Automotive and SAIC Group respectively. Since SAIC Group is the controlling shareholder of Huayu Automotive, this transaction is a related - party transaction.

Source of Huayu Automotive's equity structure: Qichacha (August 27)

According to the asset evaluation results, the book value of the owner's equity of SAIC Qingtao is RMB 287.6499 million, and the evaluated value of the total equity value of the enterprise's shareholders evaluated by the asset - based approach is RMB 420.1978 million. The evaluation increment mainly comes from intangible assets such as patents and software copyrights related to semi - solid and solid - state battery preparation methods that were not reflected in the original enterprise's book.

Based on the above evaluation results, the transaction price of 49% equity interest in SAIC Qingtao is RMB 205.8969 million, which is basically consistent with the evaluated value corresponding to 49% equity interest. And the final transaction price will be subject to the final filing confirmation of the state - owned assets supervision and administration department.

SAIC Qingtao: Focusing on Solid - State Battery R & D

According to the announcement, SAIC Qingtao was established on November 2, 2023, with a registered capital of RMB 1 billion. The company was jointly funded by SAIC Group and Qingtao (Kunshan) Energy Development Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qingtao Energy"). Before the transaction, the equity structure was 51% held by Qingtao Energy and 49% held by SAIC Group.

Source: Corporate announcement

According to the announcement, Qingtao Energy has built multiple large - scale production lines, with a planned production capacity of 55GWh. It has laid out five production bases in places such as Jiangsu and Sichuan, forming a closed - loop ecosystem from materials to battery recycling.

In terms of market expansion, Qingtao Energy has deeply cooperated with automobile enterprises such as SAIC, BAIC, and GAC. Its semi - solid batteries have been applied to models such as IM L6, its quasi - solid batteries are planned to be installed in models such as SAIC MG4, and its all - solid batteries are expected to achieve vehicle delivery in 2027. In addition, Qingtao Energy also cooperates with equipment enterprises to jointly develop core equipment and solve industry technical problems.

The core products of SAIC Qingtao focus on semi - solid and all - solid - state batteries, and its customer group mainly consists of complete vehicle enterprises such as SAIC Passenger Vehicles, which has a high degree of fit with Huayu Automotive's existing customer resources.

In terms of financial status, as of June 30, 2025, the total assets of SAIC Qingtao were RMB 360.0469 million, and the owner's equity was RMB 290.9389 million. From January to June 2025, SAIC Qingtao's operating income was RMB 46,600, and its net profit was - RMB 40.6787 million.

Source of SAIC Qingtao's financial data: Corporate announcement

It can be seen that SAIC Qingtao is still in the stage of business investment and technology R & D and has not yet achieved large - scale revenue and profitability. However, the company's loss has narrowed compared with 2024, and its total assets and owner's equity have been steadily increasing. This reflects that the company is in the early stage of steady development, which is in line with the characteristics of the solid - state battery industry, such as a long R & D cycle and large upfront investment.

Completing the Product Portfolio, Promoting Collaborative Development and Market Expansion

This acquisition is of great significance for enhancing Huayu Automotive's core competitiveness and improving its strategic layout.

In terms of business completion, this acquisition is Huayu Automotive's first entry into the solid - state battery field, successfully filling the gap in the battery business of its "Intelligent Power" segment.

Previously, Huayu Automotive had laid out key businesses such as electric drive systems and thermal management systems in the "Intelligent Power" field. After adding the solid - state battery business, it will form an integrated product portfolio of "electric drive + thermal management + solid - state battery", which can provide more comprehensive power system solutions for complete vehicle customers and further enhance customer stickiness and market competitiveness.

In terms of market expansion, Huayu Automotive can use its existing management resources, quality control system, and customer resources to help the target company accelerate the improvement of its operating mechanism and enhance its R & D and production capabilities.

At the same time, relying on Huayu Automotive's "neutral" market expansion advantages in the industry, SAIC Qingtao can enrich its customer structure and gradually expand to more complete vehicle customers, thereby accelerating the commercialization of semi - solid and solid - state battery technologies and achieving rapid business development.

Conclusion

Huayu Automotive's acquisition of SAIC Qingtao's equity is not only an ordinary asset acquisition but also an important measure for it to actively layout the next - generation battery technology field under the trend of the "intelligence and electrification" transformation of the automotive industry.

By integrating SAIC Qingtao's solid - state battery technology reserves and its own industrial chain resource advantages, Huayu Automotive is expected to gain a first - mover advantage in the commercialization process of solid - state batteries and further consolidate its leading position in the automotive parts industry.

From an industry perspective, this acquisition also provides a reference for the strategic transformation of domestic automotive parts enterprises. Against the background of the rapid iteration of new - energy vehicle technologies, acquiring and integrating high - quality technology resources to quickly enter the core track has become an important path for enterprises to enhance their competitiveness.

In the future, with the continuous maturity of solid - state battery technology, the synergistic effect of Huayu Automotive's "Intelligent Power" segment is expected to be gradually released, bringing new performance growth points for the company and injecting new impetus into the high - quality development of the domestic new - energy vehicle industry chain.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Morning Whistle M & A" (ID: MW - Group). Author: Zhao Zihan. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.