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Zeekr is looking to raise up to $367.5 million by selling 17.5
million American depositary shares (ADSs) priced between $18 and
$21 each.
The IPO will test investors' appetite for Chinese companies,
given the simmering tensions between the two biggest economies
in the world 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 longstanding regulatory dispute between the U.S. and China,
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.
Certain existing shareholders and third-party investors,
including Geely Auto, Mobileye and CATL, have indicated an
interest in subscribing to up to $349 million of the ADSs being
offered in the IPO.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are among the underwriters for
the IPO.
A smooth listing by Zeekr would add to the stable of publicly
listed auto companies owned by Geely Auto, which is the parent
of Volvo Cars and Polestar Automotive.
The luxury EV arm of sports car brand Lotus, jointly owned by
Geely and Malaysia's Etika Automotive, also went public earlier
this year on Nasdaq in a $7 billion blank-check deal.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru;
Editing by Anil D'Silva and Tasim Zahid)
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