On March 24th, it was rumored that Xiaomi planned to place 750 million shares at a price of HK$52.80 to HK$54.60 per share. The shares would be placed through the "old for new" method, seeking to raise up to US$5.3 billion (approximately RMB 38.5 billion).
Reporters from e Company contacted several people from Xiaomi. Some said, "I haven't received any notice and I'm not aware of it for now," while others told the reporters, "No comment."
In the previous two trading days, Xiaomi's share price reached a new high of HK$59.45. On Monday, the share price closed at HK$57 per share. According to the placement price announced by the media, it represents a discount of 4.2% to 7.4% compared to its latest closing price in Hong Kong.
Although Xiaomi did not respond, an institutional insider in Beijing who has been closely following Xiaomi for a long time analyzed to the reporters that if the share placement is successful, it will help alleviate the funding pressure on some of Xiaomi's innovative businesses.
Recently, Xiaomi Group released its full-year financial report for 2024, showing that its revenue reached 365.9 billion yuan, hitting a historical high and increasing by 35.0% year-on-year. In terms of profits, it also performed remarkably well. The group's adjusted net profit in 2024 was 27.2 billion yuan, a historical high, with a year-on-year growth of 41.3%. However, the adjusted net loss of innovative businesses such as smart electric vehicles was 6.2 billion yuan.
The aforementioned institutional insider believes that it is understandable if Xiaomi seeks large-scale share placement financing. The underlying logic is that it needs to further increase investment in core business and innovative business areas to consolidate its position in the global technology market. This is especially true in the context of AI.
Currently, Xiaomi is making substantial investments in its emerging electric vehicle business to drive growth. After announcing the fastest revenue growth since 2021, the company recently raised its 2025 electric vehicle delivery target and is fully striving for the goal of 350,000 units.
Deliveries have become an important driving force for the development of new energy vehicle manufacturers. Taking January of this year as an example, many vehicle manufacturers announced their monthly delivery data. Among them, XPeng Motors delivered a total of 30,350 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 268%. NIO delivered 13,863 new vehicles in January 2025, a year-on-year increase of 37.9%.
In the fiercely competitive market, Lei Jun once said in 2021 that the company planned to invest 10 billion US dollars in the electric vehicle field in the next ten years. The latest financial report shows that Xiaomi's cash and cash equivalents at the latest period end amounted to 33.7 billion yuan. "Facing the capital-intensive automotive track, it can't be said that Xiaomi doesn't lack any money at all," the aforementioned insider believes.
It is reported that as part of its efforts to increase production, Xiaomi Group will expand the scale of its second electric vehicle manufacturing plant under construction in Beijing. Xiaomi Group started building the second factory in the Yizhuang area of Beijing last year. Xiaomi purchased this 53-hectare piece of land for 842 million yuan (116 million US dollars), and the factory is scheduled to start production in the middle of the year.
If Xiaomi Auto's share placement financing is successful, it will become a landmark event for technology companies and vehicle manufacturers to raise funds in the Hong Kong stock market recently. On March 4th this year, BYD, a global giant in the new energy vehicle industry, announced that it would place 129.8 million new H shares at a price of HK$335.2 per share, with a total fundraising amount of HK$43.509 billion (approximately US$5.6 billion). This is the largest equity refinancing project in the global automotive industry in the past ten years and the second-largest lightning placement project in the history of the Hong Kong market.
One of the directions of BYD's financing is going global. In recent years, BYD has continuously accelerated its pace of going global and carried out international layout. As of the end of 2024, BYD's new energy vehicles have entered six continents, more than 100 countries and regions around the world, ranking among the best-selling new energy vehicles in many countries. BYD stated that this financing will further assist the company's strategic layout in the internationalization of new energy vehicles, accelerate the company's steps in overseas capacity construction, channel layout, brand strengthening, etc., and promote the company's overseas business to achieve leapfrog growth.
The other direction is upgrading. In the fields of intelligence and high-end development, BYD stated that this financing will help the company comprehensively enhance its technical strength, seize the important opportunity of intelligent development in the second half of the new energy vehicle era, and continuously launch products that meet the diversified needs of consumers, shaping a world-class brand in the new energy era. In addition, this financing will also significantly enhance the company's capital strength and improve the stability of its operating conditions.
Judging from the Xiaomi share placement plan rumored in the market, although it is slightly smaller in scale compared to BYD, it is still a major capital operation. Whether the underlying logic and directions will be similar to those of BYD remains to be seen with the release of the company's official announcement.