Driverless Tech Firm Pony.ai Seeks Up to $195 Million in IPO
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Pony.ai Inc. is looking to raise as much as $195 million from its U.S. initial public offering as automotive-related companies lead a modest pickup in Chinese listings.
The autonomous driving startup set a price range of $11 to $13 for its American depositary shares, according to a regulatory filing Nov. 14.
The top of the price range implies a market value for the company of about $4.5 billion, based on the filing.
Investment Global Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing Automotive Group Co., and ComfortDelGro Ventures Pte Ltd. indicated an interest in purchasing up to roughly $75 million worth of the offering.
Pony.ai develops and operates self-driving fleets in the U.S. and China. (Pony.ai)
Guangzhou Automobile Group, a top Chinese automaker and backer of another self-driving car company, WeRide Inc., is among the investors that struck a deal to buy about $153 million worth of shares from the company in a concurrent deal, the filing shows.
Pony.ai had considered selling shares in the U.S. in 2021 but put that plan on hold, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
About $40 billion has been raised via IPOs on U.S. exchanges this year, a roughly 60% jump from same period in 2023 but still below the average in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The two biggest Chinese listings in the U.S. this year have been WeRide and Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Ltd., the data show.
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Founded in Silicon Valley in 2016, Pony.ai develops and operates self-driving fleets in the U.S. and China. Its vehicles include trucks and robotaxis. It has permits to provide fare-charging, fully driverless taxi services in Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
Pony.ai’s backers include Toyota Motor Corp. and Saudi Arabia’s Neom Co. China’s securities regulator approved the New York IPO in April as Beijing loosened its clampdown on domestic tech companies trying to list overseas.
The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. Deutsche Bank AG, Huatai Securities and Tiger Brokers. The company plans for its depositary shares to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PONY.
