Nio completes Singapore stock debut, two months after a shortcut-path Hong Kong listing

U.S listed Chinese electric carmaker Nio on Friday made its debut on the Singapore Stock Exchange, giving investors a third option to trade its shares after New York and Hong Kong.

The Singapore listing made Nio the first Chinese automaker to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) , Hong Kong and Singapore.

Singapore was chosen as a listing venue because of the company’ ambition to grow its EV market share in the region and beyond.

“By collaborating with science and research institutions and establishing NIO’s R&D center for artificial intelligence and autonomous driving in Singapore, we will further broaden and enhance our global R&D footprint,” Nio founder William Li said in a statement.

Similar to the Hong Kong listing, Nio did not raise fund through the Singapore listing as the company take a shortcut path to listing, William Li referred it as a listing “by way of introduction.”

Two of Nio’s domestic rivals, Xpeng and Li auto, chose more traditional paths to their Hong Kong listings, raising USD2.1 billion and USD1.5 billion respectively.

Share of Nio began trading on Hong Kong Exchange in March.

Multiple exchange also gives Nio options to hedge against the risk of being delisted from the U.S due to regulatory issues.

Foreign companies listed on American stock exchanges have to comply with U.S. auditing standards. Foreign accounting firms have to be audited by U.S. authorities under recently passed law.

NIO, along with many other U.S.-listed Chinese companies, don’t meet that requirement yet. If nothing changes in coming years, that means NIO stock might be forced to leave the New York Stock Exchange.

According to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Nio’s vehicle deliveries fell nearly 50% month on month to 5,074 units in April, while rival Xpeng’s volume fell 41.6 percent to 9,002 in the same period, Li Auto reported a 62 percent monthly drop to 4,167 vehicle deliveries.

Tesla’s sales number also plummet 95% in April, the U.S maker sold 1,512 China-made electric vehicles in China in April.