Sany Heavy Truck, a truck manufacturer affiliated with China’s Sany Heavy Industry, has raised almost 1 billion yuan ($145 million) in a Series A round to invest in the R&D of its new-energy heavy-duty trucks.
Three investors jointly led the deal, including Hidden Hill Capital, a private equity (PE) arm of global logistics giant GLP; China Merchants Capital, a joint venture (JV) between GLP and China Merchants Group; and CMG-SDIC Capital, a PE firm established by China Merchants Capital and China’s SDIC Fund Management.
Shanghai-based Rosefinch Investment and Huaxu Fund in Guangzhou were among the participating investors.
Investment bank Lighthouse Capital, the exclusive financial adviser for the Series A round, recently released a statement about the fundraising.
Founded in 2017, Sany Heavy Truck has developed a series of intelligent heavy-duty trucks powered by fuel oil, lithium-ion batteries, or hydrogen fuel leveraging the R&D and manufacturing resources of its parent firm Sany Heavy Industry, a domestic giant in producing heavy equipment.
The firm is targeting to upgrade the power-wasting, traditional road freight industry by offering its new-energy heavy-duty trucks to large-scale, high-emission enterprises in industries such as cement and metal production as well as mining.
Changsha-headquartered Sany Heavy Truck formed a strategic JV with autonomous vehicle firm Pony.ai, whose venture investors include China’s CITIC Private Equity (CPE) and Sequoia Capital China, in July 2020 to develop autonomous trucks.
The JV’s product portfolio will include a mix of new-energy trucks, such as electric trucks and diesel-powered trucks.
“Sany Heavy Truck is dedicated to transforming road freight as a pioneer in the provision of eco-friendly vehicles. Among our new-energy efforts, we have invested massively in R&D to become a highly-recognised new-energy heavy-duty truck brand in the market,” said Liang Linhe, founder and Chairman of Sany Heavy Truck.
“Through the new financing, we have introduced an array of industry investors such as Hidden Hill Capital who are well connected in the logistics and port management industries and experienced in the areas of new energy, intelligent vehicles, and advanced manufacturing. We will work closely with our new shareholders to further strengthen our efforts in building new energy-powered, intelligent vehicles,” said Liang.