FAST NEWS: iMotion Automative dips on trading debut

The latest: Autonomous driving domain controllers maker iMotion Automotive Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. (1274.HK) opened at HK$29.55in their Wednesday trading debut, 0.3% lower than their IPO price of HK$29.65, giving the company a market capitalization of about HK$3 billion ($384 million).

Looking up: The local portion of the company’s public offering in Hong Kong was oversubscribed by about 6.5 times, which is not a bad performance in the recent quiet stock market of Hong Kong.

Take Note: The company raised HK$595 million in net proceeds from the share sale, lower than the market rumor of up to HK$2.34 billion earlier this year.

Digging Deeper: Founded in 2016 by Song Yang, a renowned Chinese engineering expert, iMotion specializes in autonomous driving solutions and has received at least eight rounds of investment prior to its IPO, reaching a valuation of 3.3 billion yuan ($466 million) by its last round of funding. The company has been a non-exclusive supplier of autonomous driving solutions to Geely’s Zeekr electric vehicle (EV) brand since June 2021. Geely provided 53% of iMotion’s revenue in 2021, but the figure swelled to 96.4% and was roughly the same at 95% in the first half of this year, reflecting its heavy reliance on Geely.

Market Reaction: iMotion spent most of Wednesday morning below its IPO price and closed at HK$29.45 at the midday break, 0.7% lower than its IPO price.

Translation by A. Au

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