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WeRide, a $5 billion software company, will hold an initial public offering (IPO) amid geopolitical dangers and a race by Chinese auto technology corporations to raise cash in the United States.
By Daisuke Wakabayashi
Report from Seoul
One of China’s leading autonomous vehicle startups is set to go public on the New York Stock Exchange this week, amid tension between Beijing and Washington.
WeRide, which makes software that powers driverless vehicles, provided potential investors with a long list of the many tactics that geopolitics could hurt their investment.
Export controls on Chinese corporations through the US government may simply restrict WeRide to complex semiconductors. A WeRide supplier has been designated a “Chinese military company,” which could complicate its supply chain if restrictions intensify. A crackdown on Chinese autonomous vehicle makers could limit WeRide’s ability to use its generation in the United States.
The Chinese government, the company also said, “exercises significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our businesses and could potentially interfere or influence our operations. “
Any investment in a seven-year-old startup in a nascent sector carries risks, but not the kind faced by two superpowers. WeRide shares are expected to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Guangzhou-based WeRide is part of a wave of Chinese EV and car-generation companies looking to U. S. financial markets for capital to finance their global ambitions, even as Washington enacts policies aimed at them from the U. S. market.
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