Alibaba, Baidu Invest In Intel-Backed Horizon Robotics' IPO

(RTTNews) - Horizon Robotics, a Chinese developer of artificial intelligence chips used in autonomous driving systems, is seeking to raise as much as HK$5.4 billion or around $696 million in its Hong Kong initial public offering. According to its listing document, Chinese majors Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. are investing in the IPO of the firm, which is backed by tech major Intel Corp.

If successful, Horizon Robotics' IPO would be the largest in Hong Kong in 2024.

In the offering, Horizon Robotics plans to sell 1.36 billion shares in a price range of HK$3.73 to HK$3.99 each. Hong Kong offer shares include 135.51 million shares, while number of International offer shares would be 1.22 billion shares. Shares are due to start trading on October 24.

The cornerstone investors in the offering include units of Alibaba and Baidu, as well as a fund tied to the government of a Chinese city, Ningbo.

As per the filing, cornerstone investors, led by Alibaba's Alisoft China Holding Limited and Baidu, have subscribed for $219.8 million worth of Horizon Robotics stock in the offering, bidding for $50 million each.

Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that order books were covered shortly after the company started taking investor orders Wednesday.

Horizon Robotics was founded in 2015 by Kai Yu, an AI scientist who previously worked with Baidu, along with several former Baidu employees.

Along with Intel, the company reportedly was funded by investors Hillhouse Investment, HongShan, Yuri Milner, Sinovation Ventures and Yunfeng Capital, among others.

As per reports, Horizon Robotics' initial plan was for an IPO in the United States to raise as much as $1 billion. However, the plan was changed in October 2021 for a Hong Kong IPO.

In 2022, German auto major Volkswagen Group invested $2.3 billion to establish a joint venture with Horizon Robotics, aiming to develop in-house vehicle software for Volkswagen.