Geely proposes to take Zeekr private

The proposed purchase price is $25.66 per Zeekr ADS, a premium of 13.6 percent from the last trading session.

The move is aimed at driving resource consolidation, reducing costs and building long-term value, Geely said.

(A Zeekr 7X on display at the April 2025 Shanghai auto show. Image credit: CnEVPost)

Geely Automobile Holdings (HKG: 0175) is proposing to take Zeekr (NYSE: ZK) private, a year after the latter went public in the US.

Geely announced today that it submitted a non-binding offer letter to Zeekr on May 7, proposing to take the company private, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange announcement.

The move is intended to drive resource consolidation, avoid duplication, reduce costs and build long-term value, Geely said.

Join us on or

Geely is proposing to acquire all issued and outstanding Zeekr shares and American Depositary Shares (ADSs).

The proposed purchase price is $2.57 per Zeekr share or $25.66 per ADS.

The price represents a premium of about 13.6 percent to Zeekr's closing price in the US yesterday and a premium of 20.0 percent to the volume-weighted average price of Zeekr on the NYSE over the past 30 trading day period.

Geely currently owns about 65.7 percent of Zeekr, which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of it and will be delisted from the NYSE if the privatization is completed.

Geely said it expects the proposed privatization to create a unified listing platform for the group to consolidate Zeekr's assets and resources in order to enhance its competitiveness in the passenger car business.

It will also help the group define Zeekr's future strategic direction to address global market and economic challenges, Geely said.

Zeekr was up about 10 percent in pre-market trading on the US stock market at press time.

Zeekr was founded in March 2021 and launched its first model, the Zeekr 001, in April 2021 in one of Geely's most significant efforts to enter the premium market.

The company went public on the NYSE on May 10, 2024, making it the fourth Chinese EV maker to list in the US after Nio (NYSE: NIO), Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), and Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV).

Zeekr's market capitalization currently stands at $5.7 billion, lower than Nio's $8.8 billion.

On February 14, Zeekr completed deals to integrate sister brand Lynk & Co, taking a 51 percent stake in the latter. The remaining 49 percent of Lynk & Co is owned by Geely entities.

Lynk & Co was born in 2017 as a joint venture between Geely Auto and Volvo Cars.

Previously, Ningbo Geely -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Auto -- held 50 percent of Lynk & Co, Geely Holding held 20 percent, and Volvo Cars held 30 percent.