O Luxe Holdings, an investment company in Hong Kong, agreed to acquire the Japanese electric car start-up GLM for JPY12.8 billion, which is about USD113 million.
O Luxe will raise the funds for this transaction by issuing new shares to its shareholders, including the Chinese TV maker TCL.
Hiroyasu Koma, founder and chief executive officer of GLM, said that under the support of its new owner, GLM will be able to raise funds from all over the world to support its research and development. Koma said electric cars are being widely accepted and China is a leader of this industry. However, Japan will still maintain technology advantages within the next five years and they hope to grab a certain share in this market.
Koma revealed that GLM plans to produce its pure electric super sports car G4 from the second half of 2019. The pricing of G4 is expected to be JPY40 million and they aim to sell 1000 units. In addition, the company will launch small electric buses and seven-seat cars for family use.
GLM was founded by seven engineers who quit large Japanese car makers such as Toyota in 2010. GLM's first product was a light two-door electric sports car named Tommykaira ZZ and it was first launched in Japan in 2014 with the price of about JPY8 million. According to the company, they sold less than 100 units of this car.
