Dongfeng Motor Group Company Limited (Dongfeng Group) made an announcement late on August 22, designed to optimise resource allocation and strategic layout. The plan involves its premium new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidiary, Voyah Automobile, listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) via introduction, while Dongfeng Group simultaneously undergoes privatisation and delisting.
The transaction, announced at 10:52 PM on August 22, employs a “share distribution + absorption merger” model, with both core components interdependent and progressing in parallel. In the first phase, Dongfeng Group will distribute its 79.67% stake in Voyah Automobile to all its shareholders in proportion to their holdings. Following this, Voyah Automobile will pursue an introduction listing on the HKEX.
The second phase will see Dongfeng Motor Group (Wuhan) Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor, act as the absorbing entity. It will provide equity consideration to Dongfeng Motor, the controlling shareholder of Dongfeng Group, and cash consideration to other minority shareholders, thereby achieving 100% control over Dongfeng Group.
An introduction listing allows existing securities to be listed without issuing new shares or raising capital, simply enabling the trading of current shareholders’ securities on the exchange. The total acquisition price for the transaction is set at 10.85 HKD (1.39 USD) per share, comprising 6.68 HKD (0.86 USD) per share in cash and 4.17 HKD (0.53 USD) per share in Voyah equity.
Voyah Automobile, Dongfeng’s independently developed high-end NEV brand, has demonstrated growth. In 2024, Voyah delivered 85,697 vehicles, marking an approximate 70% year-on-year increase. The brand continued its performance into 2025, with cumulative sales reaching 68,263 units in the first seven months, an 87.58% rise compared to the same period last year.
The move to list Voyah has been a long-term strategic goal. As early as June 2021, Voyah CEO Lu Fang announced the establishment of an independent legal entity and expressed intentions to “extensively utilise capital market platforms,” including considering an independent IPO. More recently, on July 16, Dongfeng Group announced a capital increase agreement where Dongfeng Asset Management would invest 1 billion yuan (0.139 billion USD) to subscribe for Voyah’s registered capital. Dongfeng Group’s shares were temporarily suspended from trading on August 11, pending the release of this internal information.
Dongfeng stated that Voyah’s Hong Kong listing is expected to broaden financing channels, enhance brand image, and expand its international business, ultimately unlocking the company’s value creation capabilities and growth potential. For minority shareholders, the “cash + equity” dual option offers a compelling proposition: cash consideration provides a guaranteed return, while the equity distribution activates value realisation through Voyah’s listing. Dongfeng anticipates that Voyah’s listing will break the low valuation constraints previously faced by Dongfeng Group Shares on the HKEX, enabling a re-evaluation of its valuation logic.
The privatisation of Dongfeng Group comes amidst industry transformation challenges, which have contributed to its persistently low valuation. As of July 31, 2025, Dongfeng Group’s total market capitalisation stood at 39.12 billion HKD (5 billion USD), with a closing price of 4.74 HKD (0.61 USD) per share and a price-to-book (PB) ratio of merely 0.25x. Due to this valuation predicament, Dongfeng Group Shares has not conducted any equity refinancing since its listing, effectively losing its H-share platform’s financing function. Consequently, Voyah Automobile’s value has not been fully reflected within Dongfeng Group Shares’ overall valuation.
Dongfeng Group also released its interim results for the first half of 2025 on August 22. During this period, the company sold approximately 823,900 vehicles, a 14.7% decrease year-on-year. However, it achieved sales revenue of 54.533 billion yuan (7.58 billion USD), up 6.6%; gross profit of 7.599 billion yuan (1.06 billion USD), up 28.0%; and a gross margin of 13.9%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points. Net profit attributable to listed shareholders was 55 million yuan (7.65 million USD).
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