(Bloomberg) -- Pony AI Inc. raised $260 million after pricing its US initial public offering at the top of the marketed range, signaling strong investor interest for autonomous-driving technology and Chinese listings in New York.
The American depositary shares were priced at $13 each, Guangzhou-headquartered Pony AI said in a statement Wednesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. At the IPO price, the company has an implied market value of about $4.5 billion, based on the number of shares outstanding disclosed in a filing. Trading is due to start Wednesday.
Founded in Silicon Valley in 2016, Pony AI develops and operates self-driving fleets in the US and China. Its vehicles include trucks and robotaxis. It has permits to provide fare-charging, fully driverless taxi services in some parts of major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
The company is tapping US capital markets as President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration considers moves that could ramp up competition in the autonomous-driving sector, where the US and China are neck and neck in funding. The two countries also have the most robotaxi startups globally.
Pony AI’s IPO was initially expected to be priced last week, but that was pushed back as the firm increased the deal size and addressed regulator questions, Bloomberg News reported. Uber Technologies Inc. was among those indicating interest in Pony AI shares, according to people familiar with the matter.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Huatai Securities and Tiger Brokers Co. are leading the offering. Pony AI’s depositary shares will to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PONY.
(Updates with company’s statement confirming Bloomberg News report.)
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