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Recently, the CSRC issued a notice for the filing of overseas issuance and listing of Lotus Technology Inc. (Lutes Technology Company).

As can be seen from the listing filing notice, Lutes Technology will be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange of the United States through a merger with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp, an overseas special purpose M & A company, issuing no more than 181 million common shares. The appearance of the overseas listing filing notice also means that Lutes' listing is imminent.

In fact, there may have been plans for the listing of Lutes. In January last year, Lutes announced a final merger agreement with special purpose acquisition firm L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp (LCAA). According to the official plan, the two sides agreed to list on Nasdaq in the second half of last year after the deal under the merger agreement was completed. At that time, with regard to the direction of the funds raised after the listing, officials said that the funds would be used to accelerate product innovation, develop a new generation of automotive technology, expand the global distribution network, and the day-to-day operation of the company.

According to public information, Lutes, founded in 1948, is a luxury carmaker headquartered in Norfolk, England, and has been called the world's three supercar brands with Ferrari and Porsche. After entering the 1980s, Lutes was successively acquired by Toyota, General Motors, Italian capitalists and Proton Group because of its minority brand and unable to make profits on a large scale. In June 2017, Lutes was acquired by Geely Holdings with a 51% stake. In 2018, Lutes launched the brand renaissance plan, announced a comprehensive transformation to electrification and intelligence, and launched the first pure electric supercar Evija to start the journey of electrification transformation.

At present, Lutes has three models on sale. The first model, the Evija, is on sale at the 2019 Guangzhou Auto Show, priced from 21.88 million yuan, but has not yet been delivered. In November 2021, the EMIRA, Lutes' second fuel supercar, went on sale at a price of 858000 yuan. October 2022, the first intelligent pure electric SUV Eletre launched, the new car positioning medium and large SUV, a total of two models, the price range is 828000 yuan-1.028 million yuan. Judging from the price of the three models, it is not hard to imagine what their sales will be. Data show that between 2021 and 2022, Lutes sold 1566 and 576 vehicles, respectively.

Sales are not up, and losses continue to increase. Between 2021 and 2022, Lutes made a net loss of $800m in the two years, according to official figures. In 2023, losses are still rising. In the first half of last year, Lutes posted a net loss of $344 million, up further from the same period last year. To this end, officials also made layoffs last year. Last July, Lutes announced 200 layoffs.

In this context, it is normal for Lutes to speed up preparations for listing. For car companies, car building is a continuous "money-burning" industry, which needs a lot of financial support. Lutes needs a lot of money to survive before he can achieve self-hematopoiesis. Listing is the fastest way to get funds, and the integration of funds will also play a role in accelerating the transformation of Lutes electrification.

According to the official plan, four all-electric models will be launched by 2026. Revenue in 2024 is expected to be $6.2 billion to $6.6 billion, gross profit will rise to $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion, revenue will be $8.5 billion to $8.9 billion in 2025, gross profit will rise again to $1.8 billion to $2 billion, and gross profit margin will reach more than 20%. Judging from the current market performance of Lutes, there is still a certain gap to achieve this gross profit.

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