(Yicai Global) Feb. 19 -- Sokon Industry’s shares soared by the daily trading limit today after the Chinese automaker sold an unprofitable electric vehicle plant in the United States for USD150 million.

Sokon [SHA: 601127] closed 10 percent higher at CNY15.64 (USD2.41), giving the Chongqing-based company a market value of CNY18.2 billion (USD2.8 billion).

Sokon unit SF Motors will sell its EVAP factory to Electric Last Mile Solutions for USD145 million, Sokon said in a statement. ELMS will also pay USD5 million for tech licenses for two EV models and royalties of USD100 per vehicle for the first 100,000 made at the plant.

Silicon Valley-based SF Motor will also receive 5 million shares in Forum Merger III, a special purpose acquisitions company listed on the Nasdaq. The deal will allow ELMS to go public via a SPAC merger, the statement said.

Sokon invested USD30 million to set up SF Motor in 2016 to develop smart electric vehicles. But the company has performed poorly in both China and the US, partly due to fierce competition.

After deducting non-recurring items, Sokon’s net loss last year was CNY2.08 billion to CNY2.48 billion (USD321 million to USD383 million), with its US business accounting for CNY1.3 billion, according to preliminary earnings results Sokon released at the end of January.

Still, there are promising signs at Sokon’s new-energy vehicle business. Recent figures show it produced 1,227 NEVs last month, up 31 percent from a year earlier, and sales surged 147 percent to 1,275. Output jumped almost 96 percent last year to 19,000, while sales more than doubled to nearly 20,000.

Editor: Tom Litting