Chinese autonomous driving tech company, WeRide, is planning to go public in the U.S. and raise up to $440 million through an IPO and private placements. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday, the Guangzhou-based company, which got approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to list in the U.S. last year, is now offering 6.45 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) with a price range of $15.50 to $18.50 per share.
Each ADS represents 3 common shares. At the high end of the price range, WeRide’s market value would be about $5 billion. The filing shows that some investors have agreed to buy $320.5 million worth of common shares through private placements. Alliance Ventures, part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, plans to buy $97 million worth of shares. Other investors include JSC International Investment Fund SPC and Get Ride Inc. Alliance Ventures had previously invested in WeRide in 2018 and 2021. The filing also reveals that Bosch, the auto parts maker, has agreed to buy up to $100 million worth of ADS at the IPO price.