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Tencent-backed UBTech, China-based maker of Star Wars robots, files for IPO in boost to Hong Kong’s capital markets

  • Shenzhen-based firm is China’s biggest provider of educational robots and associated products in 2021 by revenue, prospectus shows
  • Founder Zhou Jian has just under a 29 per cent stake in company while Tencent Holdings is among its backers

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A visitor poses for a photo with a robotic panda at a display from Chinese robot maker UBTech at the World Robot Conference in Beijing in September 2021. Photo: AP
Jiaxing Li
UBTech Robotics, a Chinese start-up known for its toy Star Wars stormtrooper robots as well as robots used in education, has filed an application for a stock offering in Hong Kong in what could be the first such business to go public in the region.

The Shenzhen-based company, backed by investors including Tencent Holdings, did not disclose the size of its stock offering in its filing on Monday, or the expected timeline for its eventual listing. It picked Hong Kong due to its “overseas development plan,” it added.

The firm is credited as a pioneer and leader in a market worth 46.7 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) in 2021 or about a third of the global market, according to its preliminary prospectus. The domestic market could reach 156 billion yuan by 2026, the document shows.
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Guotai Junan is the sole sponsor of the proposed initial public offering (IPO).

UBTech Robotics’ Alpha Mini droid is all about companionship, on display at CES, Los Angeles.
UBTech Robotics’ Alpha Mini droid is all about companionship, on display at CES, Los Angeles.

The UBtech IPO will be a boon for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) as the city’s bourse operator looks to regain its former lustre. The city was ranked third in 2022 in terms of proceeds raised from global IPOs, trailing the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, according to Refinitiv.

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UBTech was founded by its chairman Zhou Jian in 2012 and has become the top seller of educational smart robotic products, or artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots that interact with users. It has sold more than 500,000 robotic products and other devices in the past three years, mostly in the education sector.

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