Mercedes-Geely Smart JV could see investment from Chinese lithium miner Tianqi

China’s Tianqi Lithium is considering buying a minority stake in Smart Automobile, the Geely-Mercedes joint venture, as part of the minicar maker’s latest private funding round, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Chinese miner is in advanced talks to invest $100 million to $200 million in Smart, a joint venture between Germany’s Mercedes-Benz Group and Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the people said.

The transaction may value Smart at several billion dollars, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. An agreement could be reached as soon as in the next few weeks, the people said.

While discussions are advanced, they could still be delayed or even fall apart, the people said. A representative for Mercedes declined to comment, while representatives for Geely, Smart and Tianqi didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smart has been considering raising funds as part of its efforts to revive the compact vehicle as an all-electric brand, Bloomberg News reported last year. The company was initially targeting raising $500 million to $1 billion in fresh funds, people familiar with the matter have said.

Geely, owned by the billionaire Eric Li, and Mercedes-Benz formally announced the 5.4 billion-yuan ($783 million) Smart joint venture, based in Hangzhou Bay, Ningbo, in early 2020.

As part of the agreement, Mercedes-Benz designers would style future Smart vehicles and Geely would engineer them. With production based in China, the venture would aim to extend its portfolio to include pure premium electric and connected vehicles.

Mercedes first introduced Smart in Germany in 1998, and brought the quirky brand to the US a decade later, with the initial two-seater model targeting urban buyers squeezed for parking spots.

Its first new model under the JV, the #1, is a small full-electric crossover; sales started in Europe this year. A second model, the #3 compact crossover coupe, is due in 2024.

Tracing its history to the construction of its first lithium carbonate plant in 1992, Tianqi mines lithium in Australia and produces lithium compounds and derivatives in China. The Chengdu-based company raised 735 million yuan in a Shenzhen initial public offering in 2010. Last year, the company raised HK$13.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in a second listing in Hong Kong.