Chinese EV maker Xpeng files for New York IPO

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng Inc, backed by Alibaba and Xiaomi Corp, filed to list its shares in New York on Friday, following a surge in value from rivals.

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng Inc, backed by Alibaba and Xiaomi Corp, filed to list its shares in New York on Friday, following a surge in value from rivals.

The rival Li Auto has seen shares surge 61 percent since a July 30

Nasdaqdebut

. Shares in New York-traded EV maker Nio have more than doubled this year.

Before six-year-old Xpeng sought permission to list on the New York Stock Exchange, it raised 900 million U.S. dollars from investors in its latest funding round. This followed 400 million U.S. dollars in fundraising in November. The latest investors include Alibaba, Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.

Guangzhou-headquartered Xpeng, led by chief executive He Xiaopeng, has sold over 20,000 electric vehicles, including new P7 sedans and G3. It builds cars in two factories in China.

Funds from the IPO will go towards research and development in areas such as intelligent vehicle technologies and sales expansion, the company said in a filing to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Xpeng intends to list its shares under the symbol "XPEV."

Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, and Credit Suisse are the underwriters for the listing.

China's passenger car sales

rebounded

in recent months from a sharp drop caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The government affirmed its support for EV makers, announcing in April that it would extend the subsidies offered to EVs till the end of 2022, with a slower phased-out pace. The country has set the goal of making new energy vehicles account for 25 percent of auto sales by 2025.

Also on Friday, real estate services provider KE Holdings Inc set terms for its IPO. The company said it aims to raise up to 2 billion U.S. dollars in its NYSE listing, and would offer 106 million American depositary shares (ADS), priced between 17 and 19 U.S. dollars apiece.

(With input from Reuters)