UQM shareholders approve acquisition by Hong Kong firm

LONGMONT – Shareholders of UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM) on Tuesday approved the $48 million sale of a majority stake of the company to a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd.

Longmont-based UQM first announced the deal in June. The sale involves the issuance of 66.5 million newly issued shares of UQM common stock to American Compass Inc. That will amount to roughly 58 percent of UQM’s common stock, or 54 percent on a fully diluted basis.

UQM will remain a standalone publicly traded company, with HKG’s subsidiary American Compass Inc. getting to nominate five of nine members of the company’s board.

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At the time the deal was announced, it was expected that it would close by the end of this year.

As of June, UQM employed 50 people, all at its 130,000-square-foot facility at 4120 Specialty Place, which is technically in an unincorporated portion of Weld County. The company makes a multi-faceted electric propulsion system for light-duty trucks, vans and transit buses that includes motors, inverters and software.

Earlier this month, UQM posted a $2.4 million net loss for its second fiscal quarter ending Sept. 30.

Some of the new cash infusion from the sale will be used to build a 30,000 to 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in China by 2018. But the money will also use the money to expand UQM’s global presence in other parts of the world.