Horizon Robotics, a Chinese autonomous driving company, has raised $696m (5bn yuan) through an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong.  

This makes it Hong Kong’s largest IPO for the year, according to a report by Reuters.

The company set its share price at the higher end of the proposed range, according to details in a term sheet accessed by the news publication.

Horizon Robotics offered 1.355 billion shares, priced between HK$3.73 and HK$3.99 each, as per its filings, reported Bloomberg.

The shares will start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 24 October 2024.

Cornerstone Investors had subscribed for a certain number of offer shares for an aggregate amount of almost $219.8m while Alisoft China and Baidu have bid for $50m each, as per the filings.

Horizon Robotics plans to allocate 70% of the IPO proceeds to research and development over the next five years, while another 10% will be directed toward sales and marketing efforts.

The company focuses on producing driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technologies for passenger vehicles in China, with Volkswagen holding a minority stake in the company.

The retail segment of the IPO was particularly well-received, being oversubscribed by 34 times, a source familiar with the matter told the news agency.

The IPO’s size surpasses that of China Resources Beverage, which completed a $650m share sale just days prior.

Horizon Robotics’ public offering comes after Hong Kong based technology company SenseTime Group raised $740m in late 2021.