SEOUL (Reuters) – Kia Corp’s shares in South Korea rose to their highest level in more than two decades on Wednesday after a report in the local media said the automaker won a 4 trillion ($ 3.59 billion) deal with Apple Inc will sign to build electric vehicles.
Shares of Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co, rose by a whopping 14.5%, reaching its highest level since 1997 with 102,000 won on Wednesday.
The rally came after South Korean online news outlet DongA.com reported that Apple would invest $ 3.6 billion in Kia as they work together to produce Apple’s electric vehicles at Kia’s Georgia plant, without any source citation. The report said the deal would be signed on Feb. 17.
Apple aims to produce 100,000 vehicles per year at its Kia plant by 2024, the report said, with the goal of expanding that annual capacity to 400,000 at a later stage.
Apple and Hyundai declined to comment when Reuters reached out.
Kia shares rose nearly 20% on Jan. 20 after a media report said parent company Hyundai Motor Group decided that Kia would take charge of the proposed electric vehicle partnership with Apple.
At the time, Kia said it was reviewing self-driving electric car partnerships with multiple foreign companies, without mentioning the report linking it to a project with Apple.
Reuters reported last week that Hyundai Motor Group has “tentatively decided” that Kia would like to partner with Apple, citing a Hyundai insider.
Shares in Hyundai Motor were up 1.7%, while subsidiaries Hyundai Mobis Co Ltd and Hyundai Glovis Co Ltd were up 3.3% and 6.7% respectively from 0319 GMT, outperforming the 0.1% gain on the broader KOSPI stock market in South Korea.
Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Adaptation by Ana Nicolaci da Costa