HONG KONG - Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO Inc has blocked the eight top investment banks that did its IPO from working for rivals by tying them up in rare year-long non-compete clauses, several people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
NIO, for its initial public offering in September, had hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS.The non-compete clause prevents them from helping NIO’s rivals raise public or private funds for 12 months following the IPO, the sources said, declining to be named as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Typically such deals restrict banks from working with rivals until the transaction closes or for a shorter period such as six months, two of the sources said. Adding to the banks’ frustration, they had signed up to NIO’s demands when the IPO was expected to raise about double the $1 billion it actually brought in - meaning banks would initially have expected a much larger payout.