TuSimple Holdings Inc., which is developing autonomous trucks now on the road in Texas and Arizona, said on Thursday it had raised $1.35 billion through an initial public offering, valuing the self-driving truck startup at nearly $8.5 billion.
The San Diego-based company and an existing investor sold 33.8 million shares at $40 each, it said in a statement Thursday. The shares had been marketed for $35 to $39 apiece.
At $40 a share, TuSimple would have a market value of $8.5 billion based on the outstanding stock listed in its filings. The company’s revenue has remained nominal while its losses have mounted as it has built and tested its technology and network. Last year, in had a net loss of $178 million on revenue of $1.8 million, according to its filings.
Nine of the company’s officers and directors will have about 80 percent of the voting power in the company after the listing and will continue to control it, according to the filings.
Backed by Volkswagen’s commercial trucking unit and United Parcel Service Inc., TuSimple is developing self-driving trucks with Navistar International Corp. whose production is slated to start in 2024.
The company is the latest player in the self-driving technology and manufacturing market to take the public market route after a string of lidar sensor manufacturers, including Luminar Technologies Inc. and Velodyne Lidar Inc., went public through mergers with blank-check firms last year.
The offering was led by Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The company’s shares are expected to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol TSP.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report.
