Majority owner Geely proposes delisting ZEEKR (ZK) in the US and taking it private

Just one year after ZEEKR went public on the US stock market, its majority shareholder, Geely, is offering the Chinese EV automaker an opportunity to go private once again.

As we’ve pointed out several times in the past (especially the last month or so), Chinese EV automaker ZEEKR ($ZK) continues to build momentum overseas as it gears up to continue expanding its presence to new markets around the world (just not in the US yet, sorry).

We recently visited Shanghai and Hangzhou in China, where ZEEKR was our host. At the Shanghai Auto Show, we explored the automaker’s entire lineup on the showroom floor and also got a rare opportunity to drive ZEEKR EVs on public roads in China, which we were quite impressed with.

Several other brands under the Geely umbrella, including Lynk & Co., were also present during that drive day. Geely currently owns approximately 65.7% of ZEEKR and is now hoping to make that investment whole, as it has proposed that the automaker delist in the US and become a private company.

ZEEKR has option to delist in US and become wholly-owned by Geely

As reported by CnEVPost, Geely Automobile Holdings submitted a non-binding offer to ZEEKR today, proposing to delist it from the Nasdaq in the US and take the Chinese EV automaker private. That letter was confirmed via an announcement from the Hong Kong stock exchange.

In May 2024, ZEEKR went public in the US on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “ZK,” trading as American depositary receipts (ADRs). Then, in November of 2024, Geely increased its stake in ZEEKR after a musical chairs restructuring in which the latter acquired 21% of Lynk & Co from the former and its 30% stake in Volvo Cars. As a result, Geely owns about 65% of ZEEKR.

As the majority shareholder, Geely now wants ZEEKR to delist from the US stock market so it can wholly acquire it to “drive resource consolidation, avoid duplication, reduce costs, and build long-term value.”

According to the non-binding proposal letter filed today, Geely is offering to acquire all issued and outstanding ZEEKR shares and ADSs at a proposed purchase price of $2.57 per share or $25.66 per ADS. The proposed purchase of the remaining 34.3% of the automaker would equate to about $2.2 billion from Geely without any evident hurdles to continuing business as usual.

Instead, Geely hopes to create a unified listing platform and consolidate the automaker’s assets and resources to become more competitive in the passenger EV segment and, per Geely, help “define ZEEKR’s future strategic direction to address global market and economic challenges.”

ZEEKR’s stock in the US is currently up following news of Geely’s privatization plans. We’ve contacted ZEEKR for a comment, and were sent the following release from Geely.