(Yicai Global) July 13 -- A subsidiary of the world’s biggest electric car battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology is one of seven companies that have bought up Chery Holdings’ majority stake in Wuhu Shipyard, after the Chinese carmaker quit the shipbuilding business.

Ningbo Meishan Bonded Port Zone Wending Investment and six other companies, all of which are shareholders in Chery, have purchased Chery’s 66.6 percent equity in the shipyard, according to QCC, a business registration platform. Wending Investment took the smallest stake at 2.48 percent and the largest was 18.42 percent.

Wuhu Shipyard now has nine shareholders and the biggest one is Wuhu Yuanda Venture Capital with 29.01 percent equity. It used to be the second-largest stakeholder.

It is not known why Chery sold out, but some analysts think it is because the Wuhu, eastern Anhui province-based company needs to divest non-core businesses in order to go public, The Paper reported.

CATL may have invested in the shipyard because China’s electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries have strong export prospects, which can boost the shipbuilding industry. Also, the green smart ships that Wuhu Shipyard builds align with the Ningde, southeastern Fujian province-based firm’s electric ship business.

CATL and Chery have close ties. Wending Investment bought a 3.72 percent stake in Chery in December last year. The same month, the two companies agreed to collaborate in various domains, such as buses, logistics vehicles, heavy trucks and electric ships.

Wuhu Shipyard, which has been in business for 123 years, mainly builds civilian vessels. In 2021, it delivered the world’s first dual-fuel chemical tanker, “Prospero,” which has a capacity of 22,000 metric tons and uses clean energy liquid natural gas, fuel oil and electric propulsion.

Editor: Kim Taylor