What’s new: Horizon Robotics, a Chinese autonomous driving solution provider backed by BYD Co. Ltd., has been cleared by China’s top securities regulator to push forward an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the listing clearance for Horizon this week, allowing the company to complete the Hong Kong offering within 12 months, according to a statement on the commission’s website.
Horizon plans to issue up to 1.15 billion shares through the Hong Kong IPO, according to the statement.
Background: Horizon filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March for an offering of an undisclosed amount. Goldman Sachs Inc., Morgan Stanley and China Securities Co. Ltd. are joint sponsors of Horizon’s listing.
Founded in 2015 by Yu Kai, former deputy research chief of Baidu Inc., Horizon specializes in assisted driving and advanced intelligent driving solutions for passenger vehicles. Yu currently holds a 16.95% stake of Horizon, which represents 55.95% of voting power.
Horizon has completed several rounds of fundraising with the latest one in November 2022. The company was valued at $8.9 billion. Its biggest investors include SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., Volkswagen AG, BYD, 5Y Capital, Hillhouse Capital Group and Sequoia Capital.
Competing with Israel’s Mobileye, Japan’s Renesas, and U.S. firm Texas Instruments Inc. in the Chinese market, Horizon said in the IPO filing that its market share in China increased from 1.1% in 2021 to 9.3% in 2023.
Horizon's product portfolio includes solutions for active safety, highway-assisted intelligent driving and full-scenario urban intelligent driving. Its main customers include Chinese electric car startup Li Auto and Volkswagen.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
