HONG KONG: Chinese artificial intelligence startup SenseTime Group is looking to raise up to $767 million in its Hong Kong initial public offering, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.
The deal began Monday for the company to sell 1.5 billion primary shares within a price range of HK$3.85 to HK$3.99, the term sheet said.
Eight Cornerstone investors have signed up for the IPO and have subscribed for $450 million, or 58.6% of the deal, prior to its launch.
SenseTime did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Shares of Sensetime are due for price on Friday and begin trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 17th.
The term sheet states that the company plans to use the majority of the IPO funds for research and development of its core AI technologies.
SenseTime offers technology-based applications including facial recognition, video analysis and autonomous driving.
It had planned to raise up to $2 billion in its Hong Kong IPO, Reuters previously reported, but reduced the size of the deal ahead of its launch.
Sensetime was among eight Chinese tech companies placed on the US blacklist in 2019 amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
This action prevents firms from buying components from US companies without US government approval.
The United States alleges that blacklisted companies played a role in human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in China.
Sensetime said it strongly opposed US trade sanctions at the time the sanctions were imposed and would work with relevant authorities to resolve the situation.
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