Chinese driverless-tech firm Pony AI said to raise US$260 million in US IPO

The Guangzhou-headquartered company priced its American depositary shares at US$13 each

PONY AI raised US$260 million after pricing its US initial public offering at the top of the marketed range, according to people familiar with the situation, signalling strong investor interest for autonomous-driving technology and Chinese listings in New York.

The Guangzhou-headquartered company priced its American depositary shares at US$13 each, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is not public. At the IPO price, Pony AI will have an implied market value of about US$4.5 billion, based on the number of shares outstanding disclosed in a filing. Trading is due to start on Wednesday (Nov 27).

A representative for Pony AI declined to comment.

Founded in Silicon Valley in 2016, Pony AI develops and operates self-driving fleets in the US and China. Its vehicles include trucks and robotaxis. It has permits to provide fare-charging, fully driverless taxi services in some parts of major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The company is tapping US capital markets as President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration considers moves that could ramp up competition in the autonomous-driving sector, where the US and China are neck and neck in funding. The two countries also have the most robotaxi startups globally.

Pony AI’s IPO was initially expected to be priced last week, but that was pushed back as the firm increased the deal size and addressed regulator questions, Bloomberg News reported. Uber Technologies was among those indicating interest in Pony AI shares, according to people familiar with the matter.

Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Huatai Securities and Tiger Brokers are leading the offering. Pony AI’s depositary shares will to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PONY. BLOOMBERG

Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services