China clears Unitree for $619 million IPO listing

Chinese robot maker Unitree Robotics has been approved for an IPO in Shanghai later this month.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission signed off on Unitree’s application on Thursday, clearing the last regulatory hurdle for the company to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market.

Unitree plans to raise roughly 4.2 billion yuan ($618.4 million) by selling a minimum of 40.4 million shares in the IPO. The proposed shares represent a stake of at least 10% in the firm, implying a total valuation of about 42 billion yuan or $6.18 billion, according to the South China Morning Post.

Unitree targets late July for IPO debut

With the regulator’s nod, the robot maker can begin to work on its underwriting plan, pricing, and share subscriptions, with a potential debut as early as late July.

Unitree stands out among Chinese robotics firms for one reason, which is that the company actually makes money. Last year, Unitree reported 1.7 billion yuan ($250.4 million) in revenue and 591 million yuan ($87 million) in adjusted profit.

That puts it in contrast with Hong Kong-listed UBTech Robotics, which posted 2 billion yuan ($294.5 million) in revenue over the same period but ended with a net loss of about 700 million yuan ($10 million).

Unitree stated in its prospectus that proceeds from the July IPO will go toward developing robot “brains,” funding research on robot bodies, and new products.

AGIBOT plans a Hong Kong IPO in 2026

China’s biggest vendor AGIBOT is equally exploring going public in Hong Kong later in 2026.

AGIBOT disclosed its IPO plans last year. It’s expected to issue 15%-25% of its shares at a valuation of HK$40 billion to HK$50 billion ($5.14 billion to $6.4 billion), Reuters reported, citing sources with knowledge on the matter.

China operates one of the fastest-growing robotics markets in the world.

Some of its players have continued to attract massive investments, with the recent being Suzhou-based JoyIn, which reportedly closed a 500 million yuan Pre-A round on Thursday, led by Ant Group.

Recently, X Square Robot and AI² Robotics also reported closing multiple funding rounds.

U.S. Agility Robotics set for public listing

Beyond the Chinese market, the robotics IPO trend extends to the United States.

Last month, American robot maker Agility Robotics signed a definitive merger agreement with Michael Klein’s Churchill Capital to go public in the U.S market under the ticker “AGLT.”

The SPAC deal values the company at $2.5 billion pre-money. The transaction is expected to generate more than $620 million in gross proceeds, as Cryptopolitan reported.

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