Geely’s luxury brand Zeekr will reportedly begin a global investor tour by the end of the month to see if its planned initial public offering (IPO) in the US is feasible, Automotive News Europe reports citing people familiar with the matter.
Report highlights
The sources claim that Zeekr expects to reach a $13 billion valuation through the IPO. Notably, that figure is similar to its February valuation when it raised $750 million in funding from its private investors.
However, it has yet to finalize the IPO by testing its viability and learning private investors’ insights.
That said, Zeekr plans to visit the following countries for two weeks to meet its global investors:
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- London
- New York
- Boston
- California
- the Middle East
The unnamed sources further indicated that the Chinese automotive brand will depend on the final deal figure on the financial market situation in late 2023.
In hindsight, parent company Geely initially announced Zeekr’s confidential IPO filing in the US in December 2022. However, it did not disclose specific details, such as the deal size and listing date.
Nonetheless, the planned $1 billion IPO can potentially advance as the biggest US listing by a Chinese automaker since 2021. At that time, ride-sharing firm Didi managed to raise a whopping $4.4 billion.
However, new Chinese stock sales’ valuations in the US have since slowed as China has been more stringent for local automakers planning to list in overseas markets.
See Also:
- Geely’s electric car brand Zeekr seeks over $1 billion in US IPO
- Zeekr aims to sell 650,000 premium EVs by 2025 as part of its global expansion efforts
- Zeekr advert on X, took a dig at Tesla as it previews the new 001 FR performance
- Zeekr X starts production in China
- Zeekr, a Chinese EV brand, has surpassed Xpeng in value
The potential IPO can financially aid Zeekr in its target of selling 650,000 luxury EVs in 2025. It aims to produce two new models annually for different segments. The planned lineup includes a sedan by late 2023 and two SUVs the following year.
