By Samuel Shen and Yantoultra Ngui
SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Chinese robot maker Unitree Technology is expected to be valued at more than 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) after its planned Shanghai IPO, according to a report by Citic Securities, which is sponsoring the initial public offering.
Citic Securities expected the Hangzhou-based company to be worth 50.6 billion to 55.9 billion yuan six to 12 months after listing later this month. The valuation report, distributed to investors and
seen by Reuters, is largely seen as guidance ahead of Wednesday's IPO price enquiry.
Unitree, which competes with Tesla and Boston Dynamics in making humanoid robots, aims to raise 4.2 billion yuan to fund innovation and production.
Robotics is seen as one of China’s strategic industries key to Beijing’s tech rivalry with Washington.
Citic Securities' report values Unitree roughly 20 times this year’s expected sales, and about 80 times forecast earnings.
Unitree, which also makes quadruped robots is “a globally-renowned, world-leading maker of high-performance, general purpose robotics,” Citic Securities said in the report.
“It adheres to a prudent R&D investment strategy, while also establishing its leading position in understanding the embodied intelligence ecosystem.”
The IPO comes amid heightened rivalry between China and the United States. Washington recently added foreign-made advanced robots to its Covered List, restricting their ability to obtain the equipment authorisation required for U.S. sales.
In June, the U.S. added Unitree and other major Chinese tech firms to a list of companies it believes are aiding Beijing's military.
Unitree will set its IPO price on Thursday and accept investor subscriptions on Friday.
(Reporting by Samuel Shen in Shanghai and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore, Editing by Louise Heavens)
