Oct 25 (Reuters) -

Self-driving firm WeRide notched a valuation of

$4.21 billion after raising $120 million in its U.S. initial

public offering (IPO) on Friday, becoming the latest Chinese

company to capitalize on easing regulatory hurdles to list in

New York.

The company sold 7.7 million American depositary shares in

the offering at $15.50 a piece, the lower end of its targeted

range of $15.50 to $18.50 per ADS.

It also raised around $320.5 million in a concurrent private

placement.

WeRide expects to raise a total of $458.5 million from both

the IPO and the private placement.

The Chinese firm, known for autonomous taxis, vans, buses

and street sweepers, is testing and conducting commercial pilots

in 30 cities across seven countries.

The company will start trading on the Nasdaq later

in the day.

Self-driving technology is still in the experimental stages

globally, with robotaxi companies facing significant technical

and regulatory challenges. Even so, China has been more

proactive in approving trials compared to the United States.

The IPO follows the debut of Chinese EV maker Zeekr

on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year and comes at a

critical moment for the market as it attempts to stage a

meaningful rebound in 2024.

The number of Chinese companies that have pursued stock

market flotations in the United States in the past few years has

dropped, after ride-hailing giant Didi Global was forced to

delist its shares following a backlash from Chinese regulators.

Beijing has since softened its stance and released a set of

rules last year to revive such listings, after the U.S.

accounting watchdog and China resolved a longstanding audit

dispute in December 2022.

Another autonomous driving firm Pony AI, backed by automaker

Toyota and with operations in China, filed for an IPO

in the U.S. earlier this month.

Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and China International Capital

Corp were the lead underwriters of WeRide's IPO.