ZMP, an autonomous driving technology developer backed by chipmaker Intel, plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 19, Reuters reported yesterday, citing four people close to the initial public offering.
Founded in 2001, ZMP provides driverless vehicle and robotics technology, including cameras, sensors and autonomous logistics robots for use in warehouses.
The company is also working on a driverless taxi project called Robot Taxi in partnership with internet company DeNA, and an autonomous drone project known as Autosense in collaboration with electronics manufacturer Sony.
ZMP is expected to float with a market cap of about ¥400bn ($375m), according to Nikkei, and it made a net loss of almost ¥60m in 2015 from more than ¥700m in revenue. SMBC Nikko Securities is lead manager for the offering.
Details of ZMP’s past funding have not been disclosed, though Intel invested an undisclosed amount in the company in 2014 through subsidiary Intel Capital’s Connected Car Fund.
Construction, mining and industrial equipment producer Komatsu, which was already collaborating with ZMP on the development of control technology for mining equipment, provided an undisclosed amount of equity funding in February 2015.