INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The recovery in value of several high-profile electric car companies could help move yet-private EV manufacturers out of the pit lane and
China-based Lixiang Automotive is reported to have filed privately for an IPO in the United States.Lixiang Automotive is a Beijing-based
company that was founded in 2015, according to Crunchbase data
The company has raised north of $1 billion while private, and is said to be valued at just under $3 billion
It most recently raised a $530 million round led by Xing Wang, of Meituan-Dianping fame.It would not be the first Chinese EV company to go
public in the United States, as NIO managed the feat in 2018
Lixiang Automotive confidential IPO filing would have appeared quixotic
After all, its closest market comparable was flirting with penny-stock status.NIO was in the tank more than a year after an IPO that proved
After going public at $6.26 per share, its equity had traded down to nearly the $1 mark, setting a 52-week low at the terrifying figure of
However, since then, shares of the unprofitable, cash-strapped EV manufacturer have recovered, trading for $3.84 per share today
Still down from its IPO price, yes, but up more than 200% from its recent all-time lows (a more than tripling in value).That likely cleared
a path for Lixiang Automotive to file, albeit privately
Shares of Tesla are up 150% from their lows, a more than doubling in market cap
Investors appeared to find its earnings and delivery totals (and progress on its Chinese factory) heartening.For Lixiang Automotive, the
equity markets were warming waters worth testing
Given that it is certainly unprofitable, the opening of a new funding avenue was welcome.Notably, similar to NIO when it went public, the
company is set to debut while its history of actually delivering cars is nascent
NIO went public having delivered cars in the mere hundreds
The firm did note at the time that it had commits north of 10,000 for its cars
go public at a similar level of immaturity
According to Equal Ocean, Lixiang now delivers cars, though it began to ship them just last month:Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer
pre-Q4 2019 revenue should wind up looking very light.If Lixiang does successfully go public it will show that corporate maturity is not a
see a deeply unprofitable company in the early motion of generating material revenue.A little bit ago I would have given such an offering
But with NIO on the bounce and Tesla back on form, who knows?
