(Yicai Global) April 23 -- Guoxuan High-Tech's shares tumbled today after China's third-biggest new energy vehicle battery maker said that it has not received an investment proposal from Germany's Volkswagen yet.

Guoxuan's stock price [SHE: 002074] dropped 9.5 percent to CNY23.44 (USD3.30) this afternoon.

Volkswagen's board of directors has not sent an acquisition offer, the Hefei-based firm said in its response to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's inquiry yesterday.

Guoxuan cited a domestic media report published on April 20 that claimed that Volkswagen's board has approved the plan to purchase a 30 percent stake in the battery maker for USD740 million to become Guoxuan's largest shareholder. After that, the German firm would boost its equity holding to over 50 percent in the next three years, the report added.

Guoxuan had itself said on April 20 that it is in talks with the Wolfsburg-based car giant about strategic cooperation in terms of technology, products, and capital, which prompted a share price rally.

Established in 1995, Guoxuan has risen to become a major NEV battery maker with its 2.3-gigawatt-hour capacity in the nine months ended last September, falling only behind Contemporary Amperex Technology and BYD in China. It has not disclosed how the Covid-19 epidemic has affected its operations.

Editor: Emmi Laine