Geely’s Zeekr seeks up to $5.13bn valuation in U.S. IPO

(Reuters) — Electric-vehicle maker Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding said on Friday it was targeting a valuation of up to $5.13 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, the first major floatation by a China-based company in more than two years.

Zeekr is looking to raise up to $367.5 million by selling 17.5 million American depositary shares priced between $18 and $21 each.

The IPO will test U.S. investors’ appetite for Chinese companies, given the simmering tensions between the world’s two biggest economies over trade, intellectual property and the future of Taiwan.

Six IPOs of Chinese companies raised $46.9 million in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2024, down from $428 million at the same time last year, according to Dealogic data.

A long-standing regulatory dispute between the two biggest economies in the world, coupled with a crackdown from Beijing on some of its high-flying startups, had stalled Chinese companies from seeking U.S. listings.

Beijing has since softened its stance and released a set of rules last year to revive such listings, after the U.S. accounting watchdog and China resolved the audit dispute in December 2022.

Zeekr was last valued at $13 billion after a funding round in February last year.

Risks it flagged to investors included how the Chinese government exerted substantial influence over the conduct of its business and intense competition in China’s EV market.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are among the underwriters for the IPO.