Smart car technology company ECARX Holdings Inc. is exploring going public in Hong Kong once it has completed the planned US listing via a merger with a blank-check company, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
(Bloomberg) — Smart car technology company ECARX Holdings Inc. is exploring going public in Hong Kong once it has completed the planned US listing via a merger with a blank-check company, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The firm, backed by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu and his Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., hasn’t decided whether it will raise funds via the Hong Kong listing as considerations are at an early stage, the people said. A listing outside the US could help ECARX hedge any potential delisting risks, one of the people said.
In May, ECARX agreed to combine with COVA Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal that would value the merged entity at about $3.8 billion. If the transaction proceeds, it could be the largest Chinese listing in the US following Didi Global Inc.’s spectacular failure.
ECARX and COVA are still aiming to complete the merger by the end of this year or early 2023, pending US regulatory approvals, said one of the people, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Deliberations are ongoing and there could be delays, the people added.
A representative for ECARX declined to comment, while a representative for COVA didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Many US-listed Chinese companies are trading in Hong Kong as a decades-long standoff between the two superpowers over access to audit documents could lead to delisting of about 200 firms from New York exchanges. Beijing and Washington last month reached a preliminary deal to allow American officials to review audit documents of Chinese businesses that trade in the US, a first step toward potentially resolving their disputes.
ECARX’s blank-check deal is part of Li’s efforts to raise billions of dollars through selling stakes in his businesses at home and abroad, as technologies such as electric vehicles and autonomous driving reach critical mass and spur enormous shifts in the automobile universe. Two other Geely-backed companies — EV maker Zeekr Intelligent Technology Ltd. and ride-hailing firm Cao Cao Mobility — are weighing initial public offerings in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News has reported.
Founded in 2017 by Li and his associates, ECARX is an automotive-intelligence technology firm whose products include an autonomous driving system and vehicle central computing systems, according to its website. The company has more than 2,000 employees in China and Europe. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. invested $50 million in the firm for a 1.5% stake last September.
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