People familiar with the situation say that Guangzhou WeRide Technology is considering an initial public offering that could raise $500 million.
The people were asked not to be identified discussing a private matter and said that the company is working with advisers on a potential listing. If it pursues a US IPO, it could face a lot of challenges from Chinese regulators.
WeRide could file for a first-time share sale as early as September and aim for a listing as early as this year. The people said it was worth about $4.4 billion in March.
The people said that the details of the IPO could change.
WeRide doesn't have any specific plans for a listing and will announce its progress at a suitable time, according to a representative for the company.
According to a press release, WeRide received a strategic investment from Bosch in May as part of a partnership to develop self-driving software.
Since Didi Global Inc.'s IPO last year, Chinese firms have largely avoided US listings. Chinese companies with activities that raise cyber security concerns would need to go through security reviews.
Chinese companies that are traded in the US are at risk of delisting. The largest such IPO since Didi is the Hong Kong-based AMTD Digital Inc., which raised more than $150 million in a May listing.
WeRide is testing self-drive technology in 23 cities around the world. In addition to its full stack software and hardware solutions, it produces a variety of vehicles. A separate release states that it has been operating a service in Guangzhou.
The self-driving vehicle industry has differing opinions on how to advance the technology. WeRide is hedging its bets by offering both partially automated Level 2 and highly automated Level 4 systems in-house through its collaboration with Bosch.
The cars of today are funding the self- driving revolution.
JohnLiu, Pei Li, and Chunying assisted.
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