AgiBot's acquisition plan boosts humanoid stocks

Shanghai-based AgiBot, a humanoid robot company backed by tech giants Tencent, JD and BYD, is poised to become the first of its kind to list on Chinese mainland's stock markets through a share acquisition plan for a STAR-listed firm. The news fueled the company to surge over 40 percent until Thursday, also fueling robotics and related component shares in China.

STAR-listed Swancor Advanced Materials revealed that AgiBot, through an equity holding platform with its core management, will acquire at least 63.62 percent of Swancor's shares for approximately 2.1 billion yuan (US$291.6 million) via agreement-based transfers and a tender offer. The company also denied rumors of it as a shell listing or a major asset reorganization on Wednesday, which required strict regulation in China.

The news boosted robotics shares in China on Wednesday, marking a crucial milestone for the burgeoning domestic humanoid robot sector. This industry enjoys strong government support and is seen as a key innovation area for competing with US companies like Tesla.

Following the announcement, Swancor surged the 20 percent daily cap for two consecutive days to close at 11.21 yuan until Thursday noon. Shenzhen-listed Hengong Precision Equipment Co, an AgiBot supplier and partner, jumped 13.08 percent to 78.52 yuan on Wednesday, with other humanoid robot component vendors also seeing gains.

Founded by former Huawei executives, AgiBot aims to produce and sell "several thousand" robots this year, leveraging China's booming robotics market. Morgan Stanley recently projected China's robotics market to double from 2024 to US$108 billion by 2028, with rapid expansion in humanoid robots.

Further demonstrating its progress, AgiBot and its partners held a three-hour live broadcast on Wednesday afternoon, showcasing its general-purpose robot A2-W performing tasks at a factory in Sichuan Province. This demonstration highlighted the stable operation of humanoid robots in industrial settings, moving "from the laboratory to the production line" and creating commercial value, AgiBot said.

Despite this momentum, AgiBot faces competition from rivals such as US-based Tesla, Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics, and Shenzhen-based UBTech Robotics, which has already listed in Hong Kong.