AFMG Announces Investment by A Hong Kong Listed Global Telecommunications Giant into EV Power

(25 Feb 2021, Hong Kong) Apollo Future Mobility Group Limited (“AFMG”, “the “Company”, HKEx stock code: 860.HK; and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) is pleased to announce that EV Power Holding Limited (‘‘EV Power’’), an associate and a significant investment of the Group, has recently completed the allotment and issue of certain preferred shares of EV Power (the ‘‘Allotment’’) to a new investor  (the ‘‘Investor’’) which is a group company of a global telecommunications and related services provider headquartered in Hong Kong and the shares of which are listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Investor Group”). The Group expresses its welcome and wholeheartedly supports the Investor Group’s investment.

The Group remains the single largest shareholder of EV Power following the completion of the Allotment.  The Group’s interest in EV Power through ownership of ordinary shares and preferred shares of EV Power (on a fully diluted basis upon conversion of all the preferred shares of EV Power into ordinary shares of EV Power) has decreased from approximately 38.08% to approximately 32.66%. This investment will also increase the registered capital of EV Power, which further solidifies its capital strength.

Promising Prospects with Full Support from National Policies

In order to align with sustainability development, the Chinese government has been proactively promoting incentives and measures for the development and purchase of electric vehicles (“EV(s)”) in recent years, making the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”) the world's largest EV market. At the beginning of 2020, the government introduced a series of favorable policies, such as vehicle purchase tax exemption for any new energy vehicles (“NEV”(s)) purchased between 2021 and 2022. The construction of EV charging piles was officially included in the seven key areas of the "new infrastructure construction" plan, with further investment in EV charging infrastructure construction.

In early November 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued the "New Energy Vehicles Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" (“The Plan”) which clarifies the development goals of NEVs in the next five years. The expected sales of NEVs will reach about 20% of the total sales of new vehicles by 2025. At the same time, the Plan grants preferential tax policies related to NEVs and provides financial support to the construction of charging piles as public facilities, and encourages local governments to provide preferential policies for parking and charging NEVs. It is expected that these policies will bring even greater potential to the industry.

Based on the current development status of the EV charging industry and forecasts for the vehicle-to-piles ratio maintained at a level of 3 to 3.5:1, it is predicted that the number of charging piles will reach 15 million in 2030 in the PRC alone. With the increased popularity of EVs, EV charging equipment is bound to become the focus of development in the industry and exhibits boundless potentials.

Strong Synergies with EV Power through AFMG’s Technologies

AFMG took the lead to invest in EV Power in 2018 as part of its transformation into a mobility solutions provider. EV Power and its subsidiaries are principally engaged in the provision of convenient, safe and cost-effective EV charging solutions in Hong Kong and the PRC. EV Power ranked third in the EV charging solutions industry in the PRC in 2020 in terms of market coverage, covering 28 major cities in the country. It operates more than 6,000 charging stations and manages more than 23,000 charging piles. The Group’s investment in EV Power represents an opportunity for the Group to create strong synergies with EV Power through the Group’s proprietary EV technologies and thereby completing the full value chain of mobility.

Mr. Ho King Fung, Eric, Chairman of Apollo Future Mobility Group comments, “The Group is very pleased to see the investment in EV Power by a global telecommunications giant. At the same time, this capital injection is a testament to the technology and investment strategy of the Group.”

Mr. Ho continues, “In recent years, the Chinese government has actively promoted favorable policies for EVs and charging infrastructure. The demand for charging has risen with the growth of EVs. The Group is optimistic on the prospects and long term returns of EV Power. In addition, the Allotment provides a good opportunity for EV Power to establish a strategic partnership with the Investor Group and raise additional funds to finance its business operations and expansions to further cement EV Power’s foothold in the EV charging solutions industry.”

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