(Yicai Global) Dec. 23 -- China’s JAC Motors said it is planning to acquire assets from a unit of Nio for CNY1.7 billion (USD243 million), helping to deepen its partnership with the new energy vehicle startup.

JAC Motors will buy the facility, engineering equipment, and other related assets from an ongoing project of Nio Anhui with a book value of CNY1.5 billion and an appraisal value of CNY1.7 billion, the Hefei-based firm, officially called Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group, said late yesterday.

In April 2016, the pair signed a five-year manufacturing agreement by which JAC would produce vehicles for Shanghai-based Nio. They extended their alliance in May last year and set up a joint venture based in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province.

JAC’s shares [SHE: 600418] ended little changed in Shenzhen today, having fallen 0.2 percent to CNY13.65 (USD1.95) each. Nio’s stock [NYSE: NIO] closed down 2.8 percent at USD11.29 in New York yesterday.

JAC sold 457,500 cars in the first 11 months of this year, down 5.1 percent from a year ago, it said earlier this month. Sales of all-electric vehicles jumped more than 47 percent to 173,000 units in the period.

Nio recorded a third-quarter net loss of CNY4.1 billion, while revenue rose for the 10th consecutive quarter to CNY13 billion (USD1.9 billion).

Editor: Futura Costaglione