CATECH Holding Company (CATECH), a subsidiary of Haier Group Corporation (Haier Group), officially announced today the successful completion of the transaction settlement for its strategic equity investment in Autohome (NYSE: ATHM; HKEX: 2518) and the reorganization of Autohome’s board of directors.
This marks a significant milestone for Haier in deepening its layout of the automotive industry ecosystem, and Autohome has formally become a new member of Haier’s automotive industry ecosystem. As stated in the previous announcement, Haier Group, through its subsidiary CATECH, acquired approximately 43.0% of Autohome’s shares held by Yun Chen Capital Cayman (a subsidiary of Ping An of China) at a total price of about USD 1.8 billion (based on Autohome’s outstanding shares as of June 30, 2025), making CATECH the controlling shareholder of Autohome. Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd. (Ping An P&C) will continue to serve as one of Autohome’s major shareholders, indirectly holding approximately 5.1% of Autohome’s shares through Yun Chen Capital and retaining a seat on the board of directors.
Leveraging CATECH’s extensive offline service network and digital-intelligent operation capabilities across China, Haier will fully support Autohome to build a new paradigm of a mobility platform integrating "content + transaction + service" (a trinity model) with in-depth online-offline integration, centered on user experience. This collaboration will comprehensively enhance users’ experience in all links of car browsing, purchasing, usage, and replacement, achieving seamless connection from content reach and transaction conversion to service closure.
Autohome will accelerate the construction of a new retail model featuring efficient online-offline collaboration. Relying on the continuous deployment of national satellite stores and integrating cutting-edge technologies such as VR and AI, it will build a one-stop O2O automotive ecosystem. In addition, leveraging Haier’s international experience, Autohome will further expand its international layout, with a particular focus on supporting Chinese automotive enterprises to "go global" and accelerating its upgrade to a global smart car lifestyle platform.
In terms of technological innovation, CATECH and Autohome will jointly explore the application of AI technology in diverse scenarios such as content generation, intelligent customer service, and scenario-based services. They will promote the R&D of smart interconnection between homes and cars as well as smart hardware, and continuously enhance the intelligence level and operational efficiency of O2O full-link services.
Meanwhile, relying on Haier’s open ecosystem and the "Person-to-Scenario" (Ren-Dan-He-Yi) management model, Autohome will deeply integrate into Haier’s ecosystem in aspects such as organizational collaboration, user operation, and industrial chain integration. It will explore cross-border practices of the "Person-to-Scenario" model to fully stimulate the platform’s vitality and facilitate the achievement of long-term sustainable development and capability enhancement.
Liu Chi, Director of Haier Group, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Autohome, said: "Over the past 40 years, Haier has been committed to putting users at the center and making continuous innovations in step with the times. The addition of Autohome is a crucial milestone in our efforts to build a full-link automotive ecosystem. Autohome has an excellent team and profound experience in the vertical automotive field. In the future, with the continuous empowerment of Haier’s ‘Person-to-Scenario’ model and ecological resources, Autohome will focus on delivering the best full-process experience for users, promote the intelligent transformation of its business, continuously improve its efficient online-offline collaborative service platform, and meet the diversified automotive ecosystem needs of global users."
Long Quan, Party Secretary, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Ping An P&C, said: "We are pleased to join hands with Haier to successfully complete this transaction. Through Autohome’s platform, we can maximize the professional advantages of both parties, serve thousands of car owners and users, and contribute to the full-ecosystem innovation and high-quality development of China’s automotive industry."
This transaction has obtained all necessary approvals and completed all preconditions for transaction settlement.
China International Capital Corporation Limited acted as the financial advisor to Haier Group, and Union Securities Co., Ltd. served as the co-financial advisor to Haier Group. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) acted as the project management and due diligence advisor in this transaction, while Ernst & Young (EY) and Bain & Company served as due diligence advisors. Clifford Chance acted as the overseas legal advisor (for the U.S. and Hong Kong, China) to Haier Group, and King & Wood Mallesons acted as the onshore legal advisor (for Mainland China) to Haier Group.
(Reprinted from China Grid https://news.eccn.com)