SHANGHAI – Chinese driverless tech start-up Guangzhou WeRide Technology has filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States and is looking to raise as much as US$500 million (S$674 million), according to people familiar with the matter.
The Guangzhou-based start-up is working with advisers on a potential listing that could take place as early as the first half of this year, the people said.
Chinese companies have only just resumed pursuing US IPOs in recent months, after Didi Global’s 2021 listing prompted a crackdown by Beijing on companies with sensitive data selling shares abroad. To address the issue, WeRide will outsource data collection to an entity that will not be part of the planned US listing, the people said.
Deliberations are ongoing and details of the IPO, including size and timing, could change, the people said.
WeRide was weighing IPO venues including the US and Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reported last year. The company was valued at about US$4.4 billion in a March 2022 fund-raising round.
China’s private companies in areas including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving are poised to benefit from President Xi Jinping’s public backing of the private sector. China, facing what Mr Xi described as suppression by the US and other western countries, has urged companies to strengthen innovation and play a bigger role in establishing the country’s technology independence.
Founded in 2017, WeRide develops autonomous driving technology and is testing the tech in more than 25 cities around the world, its website showed. WeRide produces vehicles including robotaxis, mini buses, vans and street sweepers, in addition to autonomous driving software and hardware solutions. It has operations in Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as in San Francisco.
Backed by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and the Guangzhou Automobile Group, WeRide also counts engineering company Bosch and private equity firm Carlyle Group as existing investors. BLOOMBERG
