(Bloomberg) — Self-driving startup Pony.ai plans to publicly file for a U.S. IPO as early as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The company is seeking to raise up to $300 million through the listing, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Guangzhou Automobile Group, one of China’s top automakers and a backer of another self-driving car maker, WeRide Inc., plans to invest in the IPO, the sources said.
The timing and size of the IPO could still change, the sources said.
Pony.ai had considered selling shares in the United States in 2021, but had put that plan on hold, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
Representatives for Pony.ai and GAC, as Guangzhou Automobile Group is known, declined to comment.
Founded in Silicon Valley in 2016, Pony.ai develops and operates autonomous fleets in the United States and China. Its vehicles include trucks and robo-taxis. In December, it received a permit to provide paid and fully driverless taxi services in Guangzhou.
GAC last week approved a $27 million investment by one of its units in Pony.ai, saying it would deepen collaboration and drive the development of autonomous driving.
Pony.ai’s backers include Toyota Motor Corp. and Saudi Arabia’s Neom Co. China’s securities regulator approved the New York IPO in April, as Beijing eased its crackdown on domestic technology companies trying to list abroad .
–With help from Linda Lew.
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