According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter revealed that the cornerstone investors in the Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) of Horizon Robotics, a supplier of software and hardware for China autonomous driving systems, include Alibaba Group Holdings Limited, Baidu, CMA CGM of France and a Ningbo City government fund.
People familiar with the matter said the cornerstone investors have agreed to subscribe for a total of $220 million in Horizon shares.
Photo source: Horizon.
Prior to this, Horizon had received support from China automobile manufacturer BYD and battery manufacturer Ningde Times.
Horizon is understood to seek to raise up to US$800 million through the IPO, which will make it one of the largest IPOs in Hong Kong this year.
People familiar with the matter added that Horizon is seeking a valuation of up to $6 billion before taking into account the funds raised from the IPO.
, On October 11th, Horizon began assessing investor interest.
According to people familiar with the matter, the company will officially open its IPO on October 16.
However, relevant discussions are still ongoing, and details such as the IPO size may still change.
A spokesperson for Horizon declined to comment on the report, and Alibaba, Baidu, CMA CGM Shipping Group and the Ningbo City government have not yet responded.
Horizon was founded in 2015.
Its founder and CEO is artificial intelligence scientist Yu Kai.
He once worked at Baidu and played a key role in promoting the development of Baidu’s autonomous driving technology.
, Horizon said in its prospectus that in 2023, it formed a joint venture with CARIAD, a software subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, to “seize future opportunities for customized autonomous driving solutions in China.
” The prospectus shows that with the increase in R & D costs, Horizon lost 5.
1 billion yuan (approximately US$721 million) in the first half of this year, compared with a loss of 1.
9 billion yuan in the same period last year.
but its revenue in the first half increased by 152% year-on-year to 935 million yuan.
In 2022, Horizon received strategic investment from another partner, Chery Automobile.
In 2021, Horizon also raised approximately US$400 million from investment management companies such as Baillie Gifford & Co.
and CPE, as well as Ningde Times, bringing its total Series C financing to US$700 million.
In addition, Horizon has also received support from companies such as Intel.
Currently, Alibaba, Baidu and other China technology companies have also accelerated their investment in cutting-edge industries such as autonomous driving, chips and artificial intelligence.
Baidu, in particular, is currently making big bets on driverless cars and driverless taxis to help advance its development in the field of generative artificial intelligence.
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