NEW YORK: Chinese electric vehicle startup Iconiq Motors is considering going public in the United States through a merger with a blank-check firm that would value the combined group at around $4 billion, Bloombergreported.

Iconiq could become publicly traded as soon as the end of this year, adding that discussions were at an early stage and had no guarantee of success.

Iconiq Motors, which partners with auto supplier Magna Steyr and Microsoft Corp, was founded in 2016 by Chinese entrepreneur Alan Wu and has offices in Tianjin, Shanghai, and Dubai.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several other prominent electric vehicle players have also merged with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to go public, such as Lucid Group, Fisker and Nikola. -Bloomberg