ZEEKR sits on cusp of a US IPO seeking valuation of $5.13 billion

Young EV-centric brand ZEEKR is continuing its efforts to become a globally recognized name in the space as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) this week. The Geely-owned sub-brand will go public later this week and seeks a valuation of over 5 billion dollars.

It’s only been three years since Chinese automotive conglomerate Geely Holding launched ZEEKR – a new EV-focused sub-brand focused on delivering premium zero-emissions mobility to compete against the likes of NIO and Tesla.

In that short time, ZEEKR has already launched a refreshed multiple models, including its flagship 001 shooting brake and its 009 multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). We’ve also seen a new bespoke sedan called the 007 and another incoming electric van called the MIX.

This past February, Geely announced that ZEEKR had secured $750 million in Series A funding, valuing the EV sub-brand at around $13 billion when the investment is completed.

Three months later, ZEEKR is issuing depository shares in an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, seeking a significantly lower valuation—a telling metric on the current state of the value of Chinese EV automakers in the US market.

ZEEKR files with SEC ahead of US IPO

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Friday, ZEEKR Intelligent Technology Holding Limited is gearing up for an IPO on the NYSE that will represent 175,000,000 ordinary shares (17,500,000 American Depository Shares).

In the filing, ZEEKR said it expects its IPO to garner prices between $18 and $21 per ADS, meaning the Chinese automaker is looking to raise as much as $367 million. That also puts ZEEKR’s targeted valuation for the IPO at $5.13 billion.

For perspective, some of ZEEKR’s competitors are already traded on the NYSE, including NIO ($NIO), XPeng Motors ($XPEV), and Li Auto ($LI), whose market capitalizations were $11.6 billion,  $8.55 billion, and $29.7 billion, respectively, at market close on Friday.

While ZEEKR’s expected valuation is relative to its competitors, it’s significantly lower than originally anticipated as last fall, the automaker said a US IPO would offer a valuation of around $18 billion.

Per the filing, ZEEKR will have 2,440,846,254 ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of the IPO as long as underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs. ZEEKR said it will trade under the ticker symbol “ZK” and intends to ring this opening bell in New York City on May 10.