How can the risky new industry get out of the state-owned unicorn? Please see National Hydrogen Technology

Introduction

Recently, the Beijing Equity Exchange disclosed the results of the 1.8621% equity transaction previously listed by the State Power Investment Group National Hydrogen Technology Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "National Hydrogen Technology"), and Guangdong Southern Enterprises Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Southern Enterprises Group") took over the transaction at a transaction price of 242,091,621 yuan.

National Hydrogen Technology is a unicorn enterprise in the hydrogen energy industry cultivated by the state-owned enterprise State Power Investment Group, with a valuation of 13 billion yuan in Series B financing in 2022. For such a good company, why should the old shareholders withdraw?

Fourth, National Hydrogen Technology has gradually jumped to the unicorn with the highest valuation in the hydrogen energy industry

(1) Strengthen top-level design and formulate differentiated reform plans

In state-owned enterprises, if there is no complete framework for reform and development at the beginning, everything in the development process must be reported and requested, and it is impossible to meet the requirements of innovation and development.

From the very beginning, China Hydrogen Technology has been thinking about how to design a unicorn enterprise growth plan, striving for one enterprise and one policy from the group, and implementing the support of delegation of authority, corporate governance, foreign investment and even medium and long-term incentives. After careful research and multi-party argumentation, in 2019, the party group of the group company deliberated and approved the "Overall Reform Plan of National Hydrogen Technology".

The plan clearly plans the roadmap of the future industry, scientific and technological innovation and even capital operation of National Hydrogen Technology, and empowers National Hydrogen Technology to achieve breakthroughs in authorization and decentralization, company management, and medium and long-term incentives. The plan is clear that after several rounds of market-oriented financing, National Hydrogen Technology will go to the capital market and realize the listing of the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

(2) Implement employee equity incentives to attract top hydrogen energy talents at home and abroad

After the plan was passed, the first thing that National Hydrogen Technology did was not to raise funds externally, but to quickly carry out equity incentives, so that the company's scientific researchers and core backbone employees would first hold the company's equity. This is mainly due to the fact that if you participate with investors in the future, the equity price may soar, and employees may not be able to afford the high equity premium.

Therefore, before the A round of financing in 2020, National Hydrogen Technology completed the equity incentive of state-owned science and technology enterprises in 2019, with a quota of 30% of the top grid. Even in 2019, when the company did not have many employees and the quota could not be used up, it boldly proposed to reserve equity to encourage the talents introduced in the future. The employee purchase price is only about 70 million yuan, which is slightly higher than the registered capital.

Facts have proved that such equity incentives have created favorable conditions for China Hydrogen Technology to attract many top hydrogen energy talents at home and abroad as a state-owned enterprise. If only wages are discussed, it is difficult for state-owned enterprises to compete with private enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises in any case, but with equity incentives, China Hydrogen Technology can attract many scientific and technological innovation talents in the hydrogen energy industry, especially overseas talents.

Up to now, 30% of the incentive equity quota has been allocated, and how to attract more talents through equity incentives has become a problem that must be considered by National Hydrogen Technology.

(3) Carry out capital operation and market-oriented financing

After the completion of the employee equity incentive, National Hydrogen Technology officially launched capital operation and market-oriented financing. In 2020, National Hydrogen Technology began market-oriented financing, and before that, it clarified the principle of capital operation, that is, on the premise of ensuring the relative holding of state-owned capital, enlarge the function of state-owned capital, give full play to the role of non-public capital, accelerate equity diversification, and especially introduce industrial investors from the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. On this basis, the introduction of financial investors is considered.

The idea and framework of the capital operation of National Hydrogen Technology are very clear, and the next mixed reform has a clear purpose and is more efficient. Facts have proved that such a prior plan and principle have laid the foundation for the success of the market-oriented financing of national hydrogen technology.

1. Completed Series A financing

In 2020, China Hydrogen Technology launched a round of financing, introduced 4 strategic investors, raised 390 million yuan, and had a post-investment valuation of about 1 billion yuan.

Two of them are industrial investors and two are financial investors. Although there are financial investors, all four are investors who have long-term cooperation with National Hydrogen Technology and achieve long-term business synergy. Among them, the industrial investors are Dongfeng Investment and Three Gorges Capital, and there is ample room for cooperation in the application of hydrogen energy in downstream scenarios. The financial investors are ABC Investment and Wankai Private Equity Fund, which can provide a lot of support for National Hydrogen Technology in terms of financial product innovation.

2. Completed Series A+ financing

At the end of 2021, National Hydrogen Technology completed the A+ round of financing, introduced 16 investors, raised more than 1 billion yuan, and had a post-investment valuation of 4.1 billion yuan. Most of them are industrial investors, laying out the upstream, midstream and downstream of the hydrogen energy industry chain.

In just half a year, with the support of market-oriented financing, National Hydrogen Technology has completely got rid of the shackles of lack of funds, and has made a large layout in scientific and technological research and development, transformation and application, etc., realizing the transformation of hydrogen fuel cell buses from small batches to large-scale production. In that year, 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses were provided at the Boao Forum, and by the 2022 Winter Olympics, it will have the ability to provide 200 hydrogen energy buses for Winter Olympics transportation, which not only demonstrates the strength of national hydrogen technology, but also further wins the recognition of investors.

3. Completed Series B financing

In 2022, China Hydrogen Technology will carry out Series B financing, and the raised funds will be mainly used for the research and development of key components of fuel cell and PEM hydrogen production equipment, production line expansion, base construction, raw material procurement, and replenishment of working capital. In fact, 11 new shareholders were introduced, with a financing amount of 4.5 billion yuan, including a number of large national funds, local state-owned assets, financial institutions and market-oriented funds.

The post-investment valuation was as high as 13 billion yuan, becoming the largest equity financing in the field of strategic emerging fields and hydrogen energy that year, pushing national hydrogen technology to the height of state-owned unicorns in one fell swoop.

With the support of abundant funds, National Hydrogen Technology has made a layout in the national hydrogen energy industry, accelerated industrial focus and collaboration around major national and regional strategies, laid out the hydrogen energy industry in Beijing, Ningbo, Wuhan, Changchun and Foshan, promoted the construction of hydrogen energy R&D and high-end manufacturing integration bases, comprehensively promoted the deep integration of industrial chain and innovation chain, and promoted the rapid development of the industry.

4. It is planned to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board

Next, National Hydrogen Technology plans to enter the capital market and achieve listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. The original plan was to complete the share reform in 2023 and the listing in 2025, but it has been postponed so far.

The new national nine articles put forward strict regulatory conditions for listed companies, although the national hydrogen technology in the B round of 13 billion yuan of valuation, but long-term no profit, huge losses, if now into the capital market, may not be conducive to the company's own development, will also damage the stability of the capital market. If you can make a profit, or break even, it is also a better choice to enter the capital market.

5. Lawyer Ming's comments

Lawyer Ming believes that traditional state-owned central enterprises that want to enter strategic emerging industries and even future industries should learn from the successful experience of national hydrogen technology to carry out innovative business development.

In the process of innovative business development, it is not only necessary to fully authorize and delegate power, but also to make new breakthroughs in development ideas. Innovative business should implement market-oriented financing, and cannot stay in the stage of relying only on state-owned capital investment or scientific research project fund guarantee, nor can it stay in the traditional scientific and technological innovation, small batch production, transformation and application of the stage of disconnection between production and research, scientific and technological research and development and industrial development can not be effectively connected, and even many innovative achievements can not form an innovative industry.

Only through capital operation and market-oriented financing can the market value state-owned enterprises and innovation achievements in the market, and can we embark on a development path of scientific and technological innovation of state-owned enterprises in the new era, and can we cultivate, develop and expand new quality productive forces.

Through the introduction of market-oriented investors to achieve equity diversification and mixed ownership reform, state-owned enterprises are forced to improve corporate governance, promote state-owned enterprises to truly operate according to market-oriented mechanisms, realize the optimization of the layout and structural adjustment of the state-owned economy, promote the high-quality development of state-owned enterprises, serve the national strategy, and enhance core functions.