SINGAPORE – Carro, a South-east Asian online automotive marketplace, is in talks with potential investors to raise over US$100 million (S$134 million) ahead of a possible US listing in 18 months, said a senior executive at the Singapore-headquartered unicorn.

“Currently, we are entertaining approaches from certain investors as a result of which we are thinking of a small fund raise,” chief financial officer Ernest Chew told Reuters. The former HSBC banker in Hong Kong and London added that the investors are global and regional “blue chips”.

The fundraising could value Carro, which has valuation of over US$1 billion, even higher, Mr Chew noted. Carro is also in the midst of securing “triple digit million dollar” financing from banks at around 5 per cent annually, a rate he said is “near risk-free”. Proceeds will be used to support expansion, he added.

Carro’s platform allows consumers and dealers to buy and sell vehicles, and offers insurance and financing services, according to its website. It competes with the likes of Carsome and Carousell in South-east Asia.

Founded in 2015, Carro has expanded to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. It has raised over US$1 billion in debt and equity from investors including Japan’s SoftBank and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

It posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of over US$4 million in June, according to its press release in August.

Carro has already been audited to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board level, which makes it ready for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, Mr Chew said. A successful IPO would see Carro join a growing number of South-east Asian companies seeking listing in the US, filling part of a void left by Chinese companies that have paused US IPOs amid political tensions with Washington. REUTERS