Tesla hikes capital

Tesla Motors announced Thursday it was planning to sell 2.1 million new shares in hopes of raising about $500 million (450 million euros). Tesla said it imagined the shares would be sold at Wednesday's closing price of $238.17.

Chief Executive Elon Musk would be ready to buy nearly 84,000 shares for about $20 million in the offering, according to a company statement.

Musk is already the company's largest shareholder with a 22.25 percent stake. He intends to use the fresh cash to boost the development of Tesla's energy business, its upcoming Model 3 project and its Gigafactory battery manufacturer.

Book-running managers for the offering included Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank Securities.

Tesla burns cash

The offering comes a week after Tesla reported a huge loss in the second quarter. The Silicon Valley-based e-car maker delivered 11,532 cars in the second period and said it had an operating loss of about $47 million, meaning a loss of $4,000 on every car it sold.

Tesla's shares fell almost 9 percent on Thursday last week and slipped another 2 percent on Friday as investors and analysts weighed the risks of Musk's ambitious plans. The shares, however, recouped some of the losses this Thursday, as it gained 2.2 percent at $243.50 in premarket trading.

Tesla's lofty promise?

Musk has taken investors on a thrill ride since taking Tesla public in 2010. Now he's given himself a deadline, promising that by the first quarter of 2016 Tesla will be making enough money to fund a jump from making one expensive, low volume car to mass producing multiple models. Moreover, he announced the company would massively expand a venture to manufacture electric power storage systems.

The company plans $1.5 billion in capital spending this year, mainly to launch its Model X, battery powered sport utility vehicle with eye-catching, vertical-opening "falcon wing" doors.

In 2017, it also wants to launch its Model 3 line, which the company says will start at about $35,000 and push total sales toward the goal of 500,000 vehicles a year by 2020.

Musk said Tesla was expecting to have $1 billion in cash over the next year, and told analysts "there may be some value" in raising capital "as a risk reduction measure."

Tesla's stock is still about 70 percent higher than it was two years ago, and with a market capitalization of $31 billion is valued more than Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

uhe/cjc (Reuters, dpa)