(Bloomberg) -- Nio Inc., the electric-car maker seeking to compete with Tesla Inc., filed for a $1.8 billion initial public offering, becoming the first Chinese automaker to seek a listing in the U.S.
The company, backed by technology giant Tencent Inc., applied for listing its American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NIO. The $1.8 billion registration amount is a placeholder to calculate filing fees.
Nio and other Chinese electric-car makers are raising funds to develop new products and power an expansion as the world’s biggest automobile market signals a shift to battery-powered vehicles in a bid to cut pollution and reduce dependence on imported oil. That technology drive has spawned a clutch of startups from China, all wanting to take on legacy carmakers and Tesla, whose owner Elon Musk is considering taking the company private.
The offering is being led by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG.
In December, Nio started sales of its first vehicle, the ES8 SUV, three years after the company was founded.
NIO, formerly known as NextEV, is among several startups to have sprouted in China after the introduction of incentives. In January, Byton, a Nanjing-based company started by former BMW AG executives, became the first Chinese automaker to hold a large-scale unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Others like WM Motor Technology Co. and XPeng Motors, backed by funding from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., are also developing new models.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy in Singapore at anandk@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net, Sam Nagarajan, Michael Hytha
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