While Ebro warms up to reactivate the old Nissan factory in the Zona Franca, its parent company jumped onto the stock market this Monday. EV Motors rang the bell and debuted as a listed company on BME Growth, the segment dedicated to SMEs on the Spanish Stock Exchange, with one objective: to reindustrialize the Zona Franca and relaunch the Ebro brand, for which it plans to invest 80 euros in the factory in 2025.
The company, partner of the Chinese Chery for the project in the Zona Franca, went public valued at 329 million euros, with a bell ringing ceremony held at the Madrid Stock Exchange and led by the president of EV Motors, Rafael Ruiz, and the CEO, Pedro Calef. With this operation, the company aims to strengthen itself with a focus on the Zona Franca, where it plans to invest up to 300 million euros in five years to adapt the assembly lines of the old Nissan, rebranded as Ebro Factory and managed by Ebro and Chery.
In its debut, the company soared by 19.9%, to a price of 8.25 euros per share, compared to the 6.88 euros of the initial price. This IPO of Ebro's parent company will allow "to accelerate growth and increase the professionalization of the company," said Calef.
EV Motors soars 20% in its debut as a listed company on BME GrowthThe Zona Franca plantwill resume its activity presumably at the end of the year with two Ebro models: the S700 and the S800. It will do so almost three years after the closure of the Nissan plant, and aftera delaythat postpones the production of Chery's Omoda 5 electric to 2025.
The company's IPO has come after it closed a 40 million capital increase in August, which was added to a previous 18 million one from over a year ago. This summer's operation represents "the largest pre-incorporation financing operation of a company into BME Growth", as highlighted by the managing director of the stock market, Jesús González.
With its debut as a listed company, EV Motors seeks "not only the growth of the company, but also the reactivation of a historic brand like Ebro, and the possibility of accelerating the reindustrialization process for the Zona Franca factory", Ruiz remarked.
For this project, Ebro allied with Chery in a joint-venture agreed in April, which was formalized last Friday by public deed. The alliance was forged after months of intense negotiations —including trips to China—, and will turn the plant into the first in Europe to manufacture cars for a Chinese brand.
The manufacturing of Ebro's S700 and S800 models at the plant will involve the incorporation of a first hundred workers. With the incorporation of new Ebro models and Chery's Omoda 5 electric, the manufacturers expect the plant to incorporate more employees, who are part of the 1,200 former Nissan workers who opted for reindustrialization.