According to two people with direct knowledge of the situation, Zeekr, the luxury electric car brand of Chinese manufacturer Geely (GEELY.UL), is publicly filing to list its shares in New York this week. The company hopes to capitalize on the growing interest in E.V.s despite tense relations between the United States and China.
Within weeks of the announcement, the E.V. brand will publish its prospectus, and, according to the sources, its shares may begin trading openly on the exchange. Both sources declined to be identified while talking about private information. According to a source, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters; the float’s size and cost will be determined later.
Morgan Stanley and Zeekr declined to comment. A request for comment from Goldman Sachs was not answered. According to Reuters, Zeekr quietly filed for a U.S. initial public offering in December last year to raise more than $1 billion.
However, according to one of the individuals, the firm will probably not raise as much money as it had hoped to through the IPO.
Companies can maintain confidentiality and gain more flexibility by registering confidentially, especially if they don’t have a set timeframe for an initial public offering (IPO).
After Beijing tightened regulations on the sale of foreign shares in 2021 as a result of a cybersecurity investigation into Didi Global, the largest ride-hailing company in the world, shortly after it made its debut on the U.S. stock exchange, the IPO might be the first significant float by a Chinese company in the U.S. in the previous two years.
Zeekr received $750 million in February in a fundraising round valued at $13 billion, with investors including Chinese battery giant CATL (300750. S.Z.) and Amnon Shashua, CEO of autonomous driving technology business Mobileye Global (MBLY.O), which is majority owned by Intel Corp. (INTC.O.).
Pure E.V. manufacturers are suffering from a pricing war that Tesla (TSLA.O) initiated in China at the beginning of the year. These manufacturers have increased their efforts to cut costs and form alliances to withstand the intensifying competition.
Zeekr, on the other hand, has witnessed an increase in profitability thanks to its ability to employ Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s production facilities and cost-saving measures. Zeekr’s CEO, Andy An, told reporters in August that the company’s first half of 2022 saw a double-digit gross profit, whereas 2022 saw a 5% profit. Zeekr, a 2021 startup, sold 79,028 EVs in its first nine months of operation, more than double its 2022 sales total, placing it 13th out of all brands in China.
In China, it sells four E.V. versions, the most popular of which is the 001 hatchback, which starts at 269,000 yuan ($36,927.22).
Zeekr has also disclosed plans to sell in markets like the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Israel, and Kazakhstan.
