Shares of Chinese company Zeekr Intelligent Technology were set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, after the electric vehicle maker priced its IPO at the high end of its set range.
This would be the first significant listing of a Chinese company in the United States since 2021 and would test investors’ appetite for these types of companies.
It would also be a barometer for gauging the interest of electric vehicle makers, which have seen their profits shrink as a result of a fierce price war in China that has sent carmakers looking for outlets outside the their national markets.
A fall in the valuation of some high potential names in this sector could also scare investors. Rivian Automotive has lost 85% since its IPO in November 2021, and Lucid Group is down to a quarter of what it got when it signed a deal with a Czech company earlier in the year.
On the other hand, Zeekr increased the size of its IPO, a sign of strong demand from investors. They sold 21 million American depositary shares (ADS) at $21 each to raise $441 million. It had previously planned to sell 17.5 million ADSs at a price between $18 and $21 per unit.
The IPO gives Zeekr a fully diluted valuation, which includes securities such as options and restricted stock units, of $5.5 billion, which is at the high end of the target range but still below the $13 billion received at the end of the last funding round. year.
The number of Chinese companies going public in the United States in recent years has dwindled, after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global sold its shares following regulatory backlash Chinese.
Beijing has since softened its stance and issued a series of regulations last year aimed at reviving such lists, following a long-running audit dispute between the US accounting watchdog and China. to be resolved in December 2022 (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
2024-05-10 10:44:38
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