A lidar sensor from Hesai company on top of a vehicle in Shenzhen, China on Jul. 10 2022.
Jade Gao | AFP | Getty Images
China’s Hesai Group on Friday announced plans to raise as much as $171 million in an initial public offering in the United States, according to a term sheet.
The Shanghai-based lidar maker will offer up to 9 million American depositary shares (ADS) at between $17 and $19 apiece.
Laser-based lidar sensors help self-driving cars detect objects ahead and around the vehicle and are the key components of autonomous driving systems.
To date, Hesai has raised over $500 million, according to the company’s website. Its investors include Xiaomi, Meituan, Bosch and Baidu.
Hesai’s IPO is the first major offering by a Chinese firm since the country scrapped most of its Covid curbs and reopened its borders.
It is also among a few major U.S. listings of a Chinese firm since Beijing tightened its grip on overseas share sales in July 2021 and struck a landmark auditing deal with Washington in August last year that sharply lowered the likelihood of de-listing for more than 200 New York-listed Chinese companies.
Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile Holdings’ electric car brand, Zeekr, confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering in December.
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