On July 26, 2023, Volkswagen Group and XPENG announced a framework agreement on their strategic technical collaboration. The parties will jointly develop two B-class battery electric vehicles models for sale in the Chinese market under the Volkswagen brand. These new China-specific vehicles will supplement the MEB product portfolio and will be rolled out in 2026. As part of this close and long-term strategic cooperation, Volkswagen Group will invest approximately USD 700 million into XPENG, acquiring approximately 4.99% of XPENG’s outstanding share capital at a price of USD 15 per American depositary share. Following the completion of the transaction, Volkswagen Group will receive an observer seat on XPENG’s board of directors. This collaboration ties in with the Volkswagen Group’s strategy of “in China for China”. According to this strategy, Volkswagen Group is committed to understanding trends in China in the early stages of product development and leveraging the growth and innovative strength of the Chinese market more effectively.
JunHe served as the legal advisor to Volkswagen Group in this Project and provided PRC legal advice and professional services throughout the technical cooperation and share subscription process. This included advising on the framework agreement of the technical cooperation and Chinese industry policies, and offering PRC legal advice on the transaction documents. After the execution of the agreements, JunHe will continue to assist Volkswagen Group in completing the subsequent work of the transaction.
This Project involved multiple legal departments and issues related to corporate mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property cooperation, automotive industry regulation, overseas capital markets, cross-border investments, and data compliance. It placed significant demands on JunHe’s team in terms of their professional capabilities, industry knowledge, coordination abilities, proficiency in English and attention to detail. The JunHe team received high praise from the client for their rich experience and professional teamwork.
The leading partners of this Project were HUA, Xiaojun (Warren) and WANG, Kai. The partners directly handling this Project were WANG, Kai and PAN, Junlin. The Project received substantial support and valuable advice from Dr. ZHANG, Ke and partner Yuki Chan who provided valuable insights on the Hong Kong capital market. Partner SHANG, Shiming, contributed valuable advice on the domestic capital market. Partner YANG, Chen provided valuable guidance on competition law matters.
