On June 27, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. in Milan, Italy, Faraday Group of Italy was officially listed on the Euronext in Milan. As the Superyacht manufacturer of Weichai Group's strategic restructuring in 2012, Faraday Group has achieved the listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 31, 2022. This time, with the achievement of the dual listing goal of Hong Kong+Milan, Tan Xuguang, chairman of Weichai Group, took another step in the global capital market, It also opened a new chapter for Faraday Group's dual core development in Europe and Asia, and its global presence.

Weichai Group, as one of the global leaders in all series and fields of engines, has now prepared a full range of high-speed yacht power system products, which will be applied in various brands of yachts at Faraday. Tan Xuguang stated at the listing and connection ceremony that Weichai and Faraday will bring higher value returns to investors through industrial synergy.

Three global firsts of Faraday

This Milan listing gained the favor of investors and was ultimately priced at 3 euros per share, raising approximately 292 million euros. Weichai Group officials stated that through a dual listing, Faraday Group is able to further expand its capital market liquidity, expand its investor base in the main markets where the company's revenue comes from, and attract more potential investors worldwide.

It is reported that Faraday Group is one of the oldest Italian Superyacht manufacturers, known as Rolls Royce in the yacht industry. Since its establishment in 1968, it has cultivated seven major brands - Riva, Wally, Ferretti Yachts, Pershing, Itama, CRN and Custom Line - through mergers, acquisitions, integration and innovation, and is recognized as a leader in the global Superyacht industry.

Yachts have always been regarded as one of the important symbols of the leisure and luxury life of the rich. The rich in China have their own yachts for a long time. The RIVA brand under Faraday is the favorite of many famous people in the world. The King of Spain, Prince Charles of Britain, Prince Onassis of Greece, Li Ka-shing, Elizabeth Taylor, etc. are all her loyal users.

On March 31, 2022, Faraday Group was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the only Italian company in the past decade to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, creating the top luxury stock in the Hong Kong capital market. Based on the continuous improvement of enterprise operation, in order to meet the demand of global investors for liquidity, Faraday Group officially launched its listing on the Euronext in October 2022 and achieved success, creating three new breakthroughs for the first time in the world and again innovating a new path for global capital integration.

Faraday became the first company in the world to achieve dual listing in Italy and Hong Kong, creating the first dual listing case to solve the issue of electronic listing of Hong Kong stocks, and becoming the first Hong Kong stock company to go dual listed in Europe in five years. Relevant personage of Weichai Group said that Faraday Milan's secondary listing project has received strong support from the Group. In order to support the circulation in Milan Euronext after listing, the wholly-owned Faraday International Holdings (FIH) of Weichai Group reduced its shares by no more than 28.75%, Weichai Group recovered 300 million euros, all investments were recovered, and firmly held the control of Faraday, creating higher value for Weichai Group. The dual listing in Hong Kong and Italy is beneficial for companies to optimize their investor structure, diversify the potential risks of listing on a single exchange, and strive for more opportunities and flexibility for future capital operations.

Weichai's internationalization has achieved fruitful results

One is a world-renowned luxury brand, and the other is a calm and introverted Shandong equipment manufacturing enterprise. Many people would not have thought that Faraday was a subsidiary of Weichai Group, which started manufacturing diesel engines.

The global financial crisis in 2008 had a significant impact on Faraday, forcing the company to carry out debt restructuring in 2009, but the results were not ideal, and even facing the situation of debt maturity companies being spun off and sold off.

In 2012, Weichai Group focused on its main business, adjusted its structure, supplemented its weaknesses, and strategically restructured Italy's Faraday Group. By providing equity investment of 178 million euros and a loan limit of 196 million euros, a total investment of 374 million euros was obtained, resulting in a 75% controlling stake in Faraday.

In the following decade, Weichai Group provided complementary and collaborative resources for Faraday through strong financial support, global integration experience, high-end manufacturing and digital accumulation, and rich industrial chain layout. With the joint efforts of both parties, the revenue of Faraday Group increased from 300 million euros in 2012 to 1.07 billion euros in 2022, ranking at the forefront of the global yacht industry.

Data shows that as of December 31, 2022, the order volume of Faraday handheld devices was 1.296 billion euros, an increase of 27.6% compared to the same period last year's 1.015 billion euros. In the first quarter of this year, Faraday achieved order revenue of 307.5 million euros and a net profit of 18.6 million euros, a year-on-year increase of 42%.

The dual listing of Faraday in "Hong Kong+Milan" is another great achievement of Weichai's internationalization. Starting from the acquisition of Bordeaux in France in 2009, Weichai has strategically acquired and restructured Italy's Faraday, Germany's Kaiao Group, Linde Hydraulic, and the United States' Dematic in the following years. It has also invested in PSI in the new energy field, Siris in the UK, Ballard in Canada, and has strategically restructured Germany's Odyssey, Austria's Widdes, Switzerland, etc., achieving global coverage and balanced development of its strategic business. As early as 2018, Weichai's overseas business accounted for over 40% of the company's total revenue.

According to official website information, Weichai Group has become a leading industrial equipment multinational group in China and has significant global influence, with 8 domestic and foreign listed companies and 10 stocks; With a global workforce of 100000 and an annual revenue of over 300 billion yuan, it ranks 86th among the top 500 Chinese enterprises, 31st among the top 500 Chinese manufacturing companies, and 18th among the top 100 Chinese multinational corporations, with a multinational index of 39.06%.

When talking about the dual listing of Faraday Group, Weichai related people told reporters that Faraday, a Superyacht, entered the Hong Kong capital market, opening a new channel to China and the Asia Pacific market; Returning to Milan with the glory of the past will not only enhance the company's global reputation, but also strengthen its brand influence in Italy and Europe.Editor/XingWentao