Leo Group, which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, recently said on a platform to communicate with investors that it holds 343,316,240 Li Auto ADSs through a wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong at an investment cost of RMB 450 million. As of November 23, the company held Li Auto shares with a market value of about RMB 9.8 billion.
That means Leo's earnings from its investment in Li Auto now exceed 9 billion yuan ($1.37 billion).
On November 23, Li Auto shares rose sharply, closing at $43.64 per share, or 14.48 percent, with a total market value of about $36.498 billion. The company was up another more than 9 percent in pre-market trading on Tuesday.
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Li Auto went public on July 30 this year on the Nasdaq at an offering price of $11.50 per share. From the IPO to now, Li Auto's stock is up about 300%.
Leo has a 180-day lock-up period on Li Auto shares, which is expected to be lifted by the end of January 2021.
On whether it will sell its Li Auto holdings at that time, Leo said, "It's very bullish on Li Auto's prospects."
Leo participated in the Series A and Series A+ funding rounds of Li Auto's predecessor, Car and Home, in May 2016 and September 2017, respectively.
Li Auto received a combined total of RMB 1.4 billion in these two rounds of funding. Leo was the lead investor in these two rounds, but later exited as a shareholder.
