Technology  January 4, 2017

UQM seeks new partner after failure of Hybrid Kinetic deal

LONGMONT — A week after terminating a stock-purchase agreement with Hong Kong-based Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd., Longmont-based UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM) today begins meetings with other potential partners.

UQM CEO Joe Mitchell told BizWest that the company will begin meetings with other potential partners on Wednesday.

“Weve got an opportunity here to find the right partner and move forward,” Mitchell said.

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The Hybrid Kinetic deal would have sold a controlling stake in the company for $48 million in cash. The deal was terminated after shareholders failed to approve key provisions of the transaction at a shareholders meeting Dec. 21. BizWest first reported Dec. 22 that the deal was in jeopardy, after shareholders failed to issue enough new stock for Hybrid Kinetic to purchase, and another that would have made it easier for Hybrid Kinetic to amend the company’s articles of incorporation in the future.
Any future deal with another partner “could be very similar, or it could be somewhat different,” Mitchell said, adding that selling a minority stake is one possibility.
I think it really is going to depend on who that partner is and what they bring,” he said.
Mitchell said UQM —a manufacturer of electric motors —  would both revive discussions with companies that had been in the mix earlier, as well as new potential partners that have surfaced in the interim.
Mitchell said that the company needs a partner to expand into the potentially lucrative Chinese market. He said UQM seeks a company that will have capital, access to the Chinese market and the ability to help UQM move into that market through infrastructure to support the expansion.
Mitchell characterized UQM as an R&D company transitioning to a production-based company. UQM has never turned a profit.

LONGMONT — A week after terminating a stock-purchase agreement with Hong Kong-based Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd., Longmont-based UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM) today begins meetings with other potential partners.

UQM CEO Joe Mitchell told BizWest that the company will begin meetings with other potential partners on Wednesday.

“Weve got an opportunity here to find the right partner and move forward,” Mitchell said.

The Hybrid Kinetic deal would have sold a controlling stake in the company for $48 million in cash. The deal was terminated after shareholders failed to approve key provisions of the transaction at a shareholders meeting Dec. 21. BizWest first…

Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood is editor and publisher of BizWest, a regional business journal covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties. Wood co-founded the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995 and served as publisher of the Boulder County Business Report until the two publications were merged to form BizWest in 2014. From 1990 to 1995, Wood served as reporter and managing editor of the Denver Business Journal. He is a Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder. He has won numerous awards from the Colorado Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance of Area Business Publishers.
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