ECARX has completed its 1.8 billion yuan (RM1.10 billion/US$266 million) acquisition of the entire Flyme software business, bringing the in-car operating system and its development teams under the automotive technology company.
First announced in June, the deal gives ECARX full ownership of Hubei Qiguang Technology, a business carved out from DreamSmart Group to hold Flyme Auto and Flyme OS.
Flyme Auto is already deployed in 3.5 million production vehicles across several carmakers. Flyme OS extends the software ecosystem to smartphones and smart wearables, drawing on more than 15 years of development.
ECARX will operate Flyme as a separate software division. Existing Flyme OS operators will continue receiving updates, while user data will remain under their ownership.
The acquisition also brings Flyme’s intellectual property, R&D and engineering teams, customer contracts and supporting infrastructure into ECARX.
Flyme Auto will complement ECARX’s Cloudpeak cross-domain software stack as the in-cabin application layer for vehicles in China.
Chief executive Ziyu Shen said bringing Flyme in-house would allow closer integration of ECARX’s chips, computing platforms and vehicle software, while creating opportunities in software licensing and integration services.
ECARX also has close ties with Geely. Geely Holding completed a US$45.6 million (RM186.3 million) investment in ECARX in January, acquiring 27.3 million newly issued shares.
Its Malaysian connection extends to Proton. Proton, Altel Communications and ECARX formed ACO Tech in 2019 to develop vehicle connectivity technology and products.
ECARX’s latest regulatory filing also lists Proton as a related party through the influence of its controlling shareholder.
The Flyme purchase was funded about 70% through 10-year syndicated bank loans and 30% from internal resources. ECARX will inject another 200 million yuan (RM121.9 million) into the acquired company.
The 1.8 billion yuan consideration was slightly below an independent valuation of 1.824 billion yuan as at May 31.
