EX-5.1 6 d759076dex51.htm EX-5.1 EX-5.1

Exhibit 5.1

 

Our ref    VSL/752797-000003/29141349v4
Direct tel    +852 3690 7513
Email    vivian.lee@maples.com

EHang Holdings Limited

11/F Building One, EHang Technology Park

No. 29 Bishan Blvd., Huangpu District

Guangzhou, 510700

People’s Republic of China

19 April 2024

Dear Sirs

EHang Holdings Limited

We have acted as Cayman Islands legal advisers to EHang Holdings Limited (the “Company”) in connection with (1) the Company’s registration statement on Form F-3, including all amendments or supplements thereto (the “Registration Statement”), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended to date, relating to (i) future issuance and sale by the Company, on a delayed or continuous basis, from time to time in one or more offerings, the following securities:

 

a)

class A ordinary shares of the Company of a par value of US$0.0001 each (the “Shares”), including in the form of American depositary shares, each representing two Shares (the “ADSs”);

 

b)

certain debt securities of the Company, which may include debt securities exchangeable for or convertible into Shares (collectively the “Debt Securities”), each series of Debt Securities to be issued under indentures to be entered into by the Company and the trustee for such Debt Securities (the “Indentures”); and

 

c)

warrants to subscribe for Shares or Debt Securities of the Company (the “Warrants”) to be issued under one or more warrant agreements to be entered into between the Company and the warrant agent for such Warrants thereunder (the “Warrant Agreements”).

and (ii) future resale by certain selling shareholders, on a delayed or continuous basis, from time to time in one or more offerings, certain Shares held by them, including in the form of ADSs; and (2) the prospectus supplement to the prospectus dated 19 April 2024 (the “Prospectus Supplement”) relating to the offering and sale of up to US$100,000,000 ADSs representing the Company’s Shares (the “Sale Shares”) by the Company in accordance with the At the Market Issuance Sales Agreement dated 19 April 2024 between China Renaissance Securities (Hong Kong) Limited and the Company (the “Sales Agreement”).

We are furnishing this opinion as Exhibits 5.1, 8.1 and 23.3 to the Registration Statement.

 

1

Documents Reviewed

For the purposes of this opinion, we have reviewed only originals, copies or final drafts of the following documents:

 

1.1

The certificate of incorporation of the Company dated 23 December 2014 issued by the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands.

1.2

The fifth amended and restated memorandum and articles of association of the Company as adopted by a special resolution passed on 24 October 2019 and effective immediately prior to the completion of the Company’s initial public offering of the ADSs representing the Company’s Shares (the “Memorandum and Articles”).

 

1.3

The written resolutions of the directors of the Company dated 18 April 2024 (the “Directors’ Resolutions”).

 

1.4

A certificate from a director of the Company, a copy of which is attached hereto (the “Director’s Certificate”).

 

1.5

A certificate of good standing with respect to the Company issued by the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands dated 12 April 2024 (the “Certificate of Good Standing”).

 

1.6

The Registration Statement.

 

1.7

The Prospectus Supplement.

 

1.8

The Sales Agreement.

 

2

Assumptions

The following opinions are given only as to, and based on, circumstances and matters of fact existing and known to us on the date of this opinion letter. These opinions only relate to the laws of the Cayman Islands which are in force on the date of this opinion letter. In giving these opinions we have relied (without further verification) upon the completeness and accuracy, as of the date of this opinion letter, of the Director’s Certificate and the Certificate of Good Standing. We have also relied upon the following assumptions, which we have not independently verified:

 

2.1

Copies of documents, conformed copies or drafts of documents provided to us are true and complete copies of, or in the final forms of, the originals.

 

2.2

All signatures, initials and seals are genuine.

 

2.3

There is no contractual or other prohibition or restriction (other than as arising under Cayman Islands law) binding on the Company prohibiting or restricting it from entering into and performing its obligations under the Registration Statement and a duly authorised, executed and delivered Indenture or Warrant Agreement, as applicable.

 

2.4

The Company will have sufficient Shares authorised for issue under the Memorandum and Articles at the time of issuance.

 

2.5

The Sales Agreement, Indentures and the Debt Securities and the Warrant Agreements and the Warrants are, or will be, legal, valid, binding and enforceable against all relevant parties in accordance with their terms under the laws of the State of New York and all other relevant laws (other than, with respect to the Company, the laws of the Cayman Islands).

 

2.6

The choice of the laws of the State of New York as the governing law of the Sales Agreement, the Indentures and the Debt Securities and the Warrant Agreements and the Warrants, will be made in good faith and would be regarded as a valid and binding selection which will be upheld by the courts of the State of New York and any other relevant jurisdiction (other than the Cayman Islands) as a matter of the laws of the State of New York and all other relevant laws (other than the laws of the Cayman Islands).

 

2.7

The capacity, power, authority and legal right of all parties under all relevant laws and regulations (other than, with respect to the Company, the laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands) to enter into, execute, unconditionally deliver and perform their respective obligations under the Indentures and the Sales Agreement, Debt Securities and the Warrants and the Warrant Agreements.

 

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2.8

No monies paid to or for the account of the Company in respect of the Sales Agreement, the Shares, the Debt Securities or the Warrants will represent proceeds of criminal conduct or criminal property or terrorist property (as defined in the Proceeds of Crime Act (As Revised) and the Terrorism Act (As Revised) respectively).

 

2.9

There is nothing under any law (other than the law of the Cayman Islands) which would or might affect the opinions set out below.

 

3

Opinion

Based upon the foregoing and subject to the qualifications set out below and having regard to such legal considerations as we deem relevant, we are of the opinion that:

 

3.1

The Company has been duly incorporated as an exempted company with limited liability and is validly existing and in good standing with the Registrar of Companies under the laws of the Cayman Islands.

 

3.2

The authorised share capital of the Company is US$200,000 divided into 2,000,000,000 shares comprising (i) 1,904,577,337 class A ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each, (ii) 45,422,663 class B ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each and (iii) 50,000,000 shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each of such class or classes (however designated) as the board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) may determine in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles.

 

3.3

With respect to the Shares, including those represented by ADSs, when (i) the Board has taken all necessary corporate action to approve the issue thereof, the terms of the offering thereof and related matters; (ii) the issue of such Shares has been recorded in the Company’s register of members (shareholders); and (iii) the subscription price of such Shares, (being not less than the par value of the Shares) has been fully paid in cash or other consideration approved by the Board, the Shares will be duly authorised, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

3.4

With respect to each issue of the Debt Securities, when (i) the Board has taken all necessary corporate action to approve the creation and terms of the Debt Securities and to approve the issue thereof, the terms of the offering thereof and related matters; (ii) an Indenture relating to the Debt Securities and the Debt Securities shall have been authorised and duly executed and delivered by and on behalf of the Company and all the relevant parties thereunder in accordance with all relevant laws; and (iii) when such Debt Securities issued thereunder have been duly executed and delivered on behalf of the Company and authenticated in the manner set forth in the Indenture relating to such issue of Debt Securities and delivered against due payment therefor pursuant to, and in accordance with, the terms of the Registration Statement and any relevant prospectus supplement, such Debt Securities issued pursuant to the Indenture will have been duly executed, issued and delivered.

 

3.5

With respect to each issue of Warrants, when (i) the Board has taken all necessary corporate action to approve the creation and terms of the Warrants and to approve the issue thereof, the terms of the offering thereof and related matters; (ii) a Warrant Agreement relating to the Warrants shall have been duly authorised and validly executed and delivered by the Company and the warrant agent thereunder; and (iii) the certificates representing the Warrants have been duly executed, countersigned, registered and delivered in accordance with the Warrant Agreement relating to the Warrants and the applicable definitive purchase, underwriting or similar agreement approved by the Board upon payment of the consideration therefor provided therein, the Warrants will be duly authorised, legal and binding obligations of the Company.

 

3.6

The issue and allotment of the Sale Shares have been duly authorised and when allotted, issued and paid for as contemplated in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus Supplement and the Sales Agreement, the Sale Shares will be legally issued and allotted, fully paid and non-assessable. As a matter of Cayman law, a share is only issued when it has been entered in the register of members (shareholders).

 

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3.7

The statements under the caption “Taxation” in the prospectus forming part of the Registration Statement are accurate in so far as such statements are summaries of or relate to Cayman Islands law, and such statements constitute our opinion.

 

4

Qualifications

The opinions expressed above are subject to the following qualifications:

 

4.1

To maintain the Company in good standing under the laws of the Cayman Islands, annual filing fees must be paid and returns made to the Registrar of Companies within the time frame prescribed by law.

 

4.2

The obligations assumed by the Company under the Sales Agreement, Indentures, the Warrant Agreements, or the Debt Securities and Warrants issued thereunder will not necessarily be enforceable in all circumstances in accordance with their terms. In particular:

 

  (a)

enforcement may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, reorganisation, readjustment of debts or moratorium or other laws of general application relating to, protecting or affecting the rights of creditors and/or contributories;

 

  (b)

enforcement may be limited by general principles of equity. For example, equitable remedies such as specific performance may not be available, inter alia, where damages are considered to be an adequate remedy;

 

  (c)

some claims may become barred under relevant statutes of limitation or may be or become subject to defences of set off, counterclaim, estoppel and similar defences;

 

  (d)

where obligations are to be performed in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands, they may not be enforceable in the Cayman Islands to the extent that performance would be illegal under the laws of that jurisdiction;

 

  (e)

the courts of the Cayman Islands have jurisdiction to give judgment in the currency of the relevant obligation and statutory rates of interest payable upon judgments will vary according to the currency of the judgment. If the Company becomes insolvent and is made subject to a liquidation proceeding, the courts of the Cayman Islands will require all debts to be proved in a common currency, which is likely to be the “functional currency” of the Company determined in accordance with applicable accounting principles. Currency indemnity provisions have not been tested, so far as we are aware, in the courts of the Cayman Islands;

 

  (f)

arrangements that constitute penalties will not be enforceable;

 

  (g)

enforcement may be prevented by reason of fraud, coercion, duress, undue influence, misrepresentation, public policy or mistake or limited by the doctrine of frustration of contracts;

 

  (h)

provisions imposing confidentiality obligations may be overridden by compulsion of applicable law or the requirements of legal and/or regulatory process;

 

  (i)

the courts of the Cayman Islands may decline to exercise jurisdiction in relation to substantive proceedings brought in matters where they determine that such proceedings may be tried in a more appropriate forum;

 

  (j)

we reserve our opinion as to the enforceability of the relevant provisions of the documents to the extent that they purport to grant exclusive jurisdiction as there may be circumstances in which the courts of the Cayman Islands would accept jurisdiction notwithstanding such provisions; and

 

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  (k)

a company cannot, by agreement or in its articles of association, restrict the exercise of a statutory power and there is doubt as to the enforceability of any provision in the Indentures and the Warrant Agreements whereby the Company covenants to restrict the exercise of powers specifically given to it under the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands (the “Companies Act”), including, without limitation, the power to increase its authorised share capital, amend its memorandum and articles of association or present a petition to a Cayman Islands court for an order to wind up the Company.

 

4.3

We express no opinion as to the meaning, validity or effect of any references to foreign (i.e. non-Cayman Islands) statutes, rules, regulations, codes, judicial authority or any other promulgations and any references to them in the Sales Agreement, Indentures or the Debt Securities and the Warrant Agreements or the Warrants.

 

4.4

We have not reviewed the final form of any of the Indentures, Warrant Agreements or the Debt Securities and Warrants to be issued thereunder, and our opinions are qualified accordingly.

 

4.5

We reserve our opinion as to the extent to which the courts of the Cayman Islands would, in the event of any relevant illegality or invalidity, sever the relevant provisions of the Sales Agreement, Indentures or the Debt Securities or the Warrant Agreements or the Warrants, and enforce the remainder or the transaction of which such provisions form a part, notwithstanding any express provisions in this regard.

 

4.6

Under the Companies Act, the register of members of a Cayman Islands company is by statute regarded as prima facie evidence of any matters which the Companies Act directs or authorises to be inserted therein. A third party interest in the shares in question would not appear. An entry in the register of members may yield to a court order for rectification (for example, in the event of fraud or manifest error).

 

4.7

In this opinion the phrase “non-assessable” means, with respect to shares in the Company, that a shareholder shall not, solely by virtue of its status as a shareholder and in absence of a contractual arrangement, or an obligation pursuant to the memorandum and articles of association, to the contrary, be liable for additional assessments or calls on the shares by the Company or its creditors (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).

Except as specifically stated herein, we make no comment with respect to any representations and warranties which may be made by or with respect to the Company in any of the documents or instruments cited in this opinion or otherwise with respect to the commercial terms of the transactions the subject of this opinion.

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the reference to our name under the headings “Enforcement of Civil Liabilities”, “Taxation” and “Legal Matters” and elsewhere in the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we come within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Rules and Regulations of the Commission thereunder.

Yours faithfully

/s/ Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP

Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP

Encl

 

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