Luxury EV brand ZEEKR appears poised to be the next Chinese automaker to enter the US stock market by confidentially filing for an IPO. An influx of US cash could certainly aid the Geely Auto-owned brand in its plans to expand to Europe and North America, especially if it hits the $10 billion valuation it is reportedly seeking.
Having only been established in March of 2021, ZEEKR remains a relatively young luxury EV automotive brand in China. It exists under the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd umbrella, better known as Geely. Geely added ZEEKR to its EV repertoire as a high-end brand to compete with automakers like Tesla and NIO in China. So far, it’s held its own.
The company’s flagship EV – the ZEEKR 001 – began deliveries overseas a year ago, despite supply chain constraints and COVID-19 restrictions stifling EV production in China. From the get-go, ZEEKR has been quite public and confident in its plans to eventually enter markets in both North America and the EU.
The ZEEKR 001 crossover is set to make its way to Europe next year and could soon be joined by the automaker’s second model – the 009 MPV. Although ZEEKR has not publicly shared a timeline for its entry into the US EV market, today’s news of its IPO filing offers more evidence of its roadmap moving forward.
ZEEKR confidentially files US IPO with hope to raise $1B
According to Reuters, ZEEKR has confidentially filed for an IPO in the US, and two sources state the Geely sub-brand is seeking a valuation of over $10 billion if and when it does hit the stock market. For comparison, the EV automaker had a valuation of around $9 billion during its initial round of external funding last year.
A ZEEKR IPO could mark the first time US funds are used to support a Chinese company since Beijing began limiting overseas shares in the summer of 2021 and the first instance since the party came to a new auditing agreement with the US this past August.
According to the IPO filing made last week, ZEEKR could go public as early as Q2 of 2023. There is flexibility to the timeline, thanks to the confidentiality of the IPO filing, which also gives details of ZEEKR’s business dealings longer protection from the public eye, not to mention the eyes of its competitors.
Geely has declined to comment on the matter, as neither it nor ZEEKR has officially confirmed plans for an IPO in New York City. Furthermore, the confidentiality of the filing prevents us from viewing it in the SEC’s database – at least for now.
ZEEKR reportedly chose NYC instead of Hong Kong to maximize its valuation, hoping to raise over $1 billion to support its global EV expansion. We will circle back when this IPO filing becomes public or is at least confirmed by ZEEKR or Geely.
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