Chinese robotaxi start-up WeRide files for US$119 million IPO on Nasdaq
The IPO would be one of the largest US listings by a Chinese firm since Didi Global’s in 2021
As part of the offering, the Guangzhou-based company will offer 6.5 million American depositary shares in a price range of US$15.5 to US$18.5 apiece, raising up to US$119.4 million. It also plans to raise around US$320.5 million in a concurrent private placement.
The autonomous driving start-up had in August said it would seek a valuation of as much as US$5.02 billion as part of its IPO, at a time when the Biden administration was expected to propose barring Chinese software in autonomous vehicles in the United States.
The company was granted approval last year by China’s securities regulator for a US listing.
It was founded in Silicon Valley in 2017 and later incorporated in the Cayman Islands. It then launched a robotaxi service in Guangzhou, China, in 2019.
Investors had been closely awaiting WeRide’s potential listing to look for signs of pickup for Chinese IPOs in the US.
