China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, a Hong Kong-listed unit of the real-estate giant Evergrande Group, has raised HK$26 billion ($3.35 billion US) in an offering of 952 million new shares. The company will use the new funding for R&D, vehicle production, and to retire older debt.

China Evergrande NEV is controlled by Hui Ka-yan, said to be the country’s third-richest person. Some of the most prominent Hong Kong and mainland tycoons took large stakes in the share offering. The company’s shares have risen 307 percent over the past 12 months, giving it a market value of about $34 billion US.

The South China Morning Post characterized the offering as part of a rush to build a war chest of capital in order to compete with other rising Chinese EV-makers. In recent weeks, NIO raised about $1.3 billion from the sale of convertible bonds, Xpeng raised $1.98 billion in credit lines from five mainland banks, and BYD announced a stock placement expected to raise $3.9 billon.

China Evergrande NEV hopes to expand its annual car production capacity to as much as 1 million vehicles within three to five years. Its plants in Shanghai and Guangzhou will have initial capacities of 200,000 units per year, which will increase to 1 million by the fifth year.

Source: South China Morning Post