(Yicai Global) March 15 -- Shares in Fulin Precision Machining surged as much as 9.5 percent today after the Chinese auto parts maker said it has wrapped up a CNY1.5 billion (USD236.2 million) private placement of shares. Swiss banking giant UBS Group is one of 16 investors who took part.

Fulin Precision’s stock price [SHE:300432] closed up 9.3 percent at CNY23.50 (USD3.64), giving it a market capitalization of CNY17.5 billion. Earlier in the day it had hit CNY23.55.

The new share sale was led by Caitong Fund Management which injected CNY326.8 million (USD51.5 million), Mianyang, southwestern Sichuan province-based Fulin Precision said yesterday. Parent firm Fulin Group contributed CNY150 million and Zurich-based UBS CNY89.7 million.

Fulin Group remains the majority shareholder, although its stake has been diluted to 30.5 percent from 32.4 percent. Shanghai-based Caitong Fund has become the third-largest shareholder with a stake of 1.79 percent. UBS is not in the top 10.

CNY860 million (USD135 million) of the proceeds will be used to set up a production line for new energy vehicle’s intelligent electronic controls, according to the company’s proposal made in June last year. And CNY272 million will go towards building an electric car battery cathode materials plant with an annual output of 50,000 tons. The rest will be used to supplement working capital.

Fulin Precision, which mainly makes parts for car engines and transmissions, has entered the new energy field in recent years, covering motor control systems, lithium-ion materials as well as automotive electronics. In the first three quarters of last year, it raked in net profit of CNY238.6 million (USD37.5 million) on revenue of CNY1.7 billion (USD267.7 million).

Editor: Kim Taylor