(Yicai Global) June 27 -- Cybersecurity giant 360 Security Technology has given up its right to invest a further CNY1 billion (USD150 million) in Chinese electric carmaker Hozon Auto.

360 Security will transfer the additional 3.5 percent stake it had not paid for to Jiaxing Xinzhu Equity Investment Partnership and Shenzhen Jingcheng Kaikuo Enterprise Management at no charge, the Beijing-based company said in a statement yesterday.

360 Security put CNY900 million and CNY1 billion into Hozon Auto last May and last October, respectively, after saying it planned to invest a total of CNY2.9 billion last year.

Following the transfer, 360 Security will still own 11.4 percent of the automaker, which said earlier today that it will then start to rejig its ownership. Hozon Auto plans an initial public offering in Hong Kong this year and has launched pre-IPO fundraising for a valuation of nearly USD7 billion, China Economic Network reported in February. The firm has yet to comment.

Founded in 2014, Hozon Auto unveiled its Nezha marque in 2018. In the first five months of this year, deliveries reached 49,974, tripling from a year earlier, according to the latest data.

Thanks to the rapid growth in sales, Hozon Auto’s revenue surged 338 percent to CNY5.7 billion in 2021 from the year before, 360 Securities said. But its annual net loss swelled 123 percent to CNY2.9 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione