NIU Submit IPO Prospectus to SEC, Planning to Raise Up to $150 Million

NIU Technologies Group, a Chinese electric scooter startup, has submitted its prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an IPO on NASDAQ, intending to raise up to $150 million. The number of shares and their price range remain unknown.

Based on the prospectus, the share capital will consist of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. All of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares will be owned by Chairman and CEO Li Yan, Director and VP of R&D Hu Yilin, and VP of design Liu Chuankai (Carl Liu). The difference between Class A and Class B shares is the voting and conversion right. Each Class A ordinary share is entitled to one vote and not convertible into Class B shares under any circumstances, and each Class B ordinary share is entitled to four votes and is convertible into one Class A ordinary share.

NIU products
NIU products

It was also indicated in the prospectus that prior to the offering, all directors and executive officers as a group own 26.5% of shares, with COO Li Yan, Hu Yilin, Director Lee Hongwei, and Liu Chuankai owning 4.9%, 8.9%, 11.2% and 1.5%, respectively. Its principal shareholder Glory Achievement Fund Lt., owned by Li Yinan, holds 43.8% of the original shares.

Financially, NIU’s net revenues were 557.1 million yuan ($84.2 million) for the six months ended June 30, 2018, as compared to RMB285.1 million for the same period of 2017, an increase of 95.4%. It accumulated a gross profit of 79.9 million yuan for the first half of 2018, as compared to a gross profit of 21.6 million yuan for the six months ended June 30, 2017. Its gross margin improved from 7.6% for the first half in 2017 to 14.3% for the first half of this year.

NIU Technologies, founded in 2014, aims to redefine urban mobility and make transport more efficient. The company launched its first product, the N-Series scooter, in June 2015. Praised for its smart design and style, a later product M-Series scooter received several international design awards including the Red Dot Design Award, iF Design Award, International Design Excellence Award (IDEA), Good Design Award, etc.