WeRide, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company, is officially gearing up for a U.S. public debut, over a year after China started easing its effective ban of foreign IPOs.
WeRide registered 1 billion American Depository Receipts (ADRs) at a maximum price of $0.05, with the aggregate offering coming in at $50 million, per a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ADRs represent shares in a foreign company that are traded on U.
S. stock exchanges, and offering them is a strong indication that WeRide is ready for a U.S.
IPO. The filing comes after Bloomberg reported that WeRide is seeking up to $400 million in its IPO and private placement, citing sources familiar with the matter. About $100 million of that would come from the IPO and around $200 million to $300 million in the placement.
If Bloomberg’s sources are correct, that means the $50 million of ADSs could represent a portion of the IPO, or WeRide could be issuing more shares at a later date. WeRide did not respond in time to comment. If and when WeRide goes public, this will be the largest IPO by a Chinese company on the U.
S. stock market since Geely-owned luxury EV startup Zeekr began selling shares on the New York Stock Exchange in May. Zeekr’s stock has fallen 48% since its debut.
WeRide initially filed confidentially to go public in the U.S. in March 2023.
The AV company has raised a total of $1.39 billion at a $5.11 billion valuation, per Pitchbook data.
But WeRide hasn’t raised a private round.