Zeekr prices US IPO at top of range to raise $441m: source

Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr Intelligent Technology priced its US initial public offering (IPO) at the top of its indicated range on Thursday, raising $441m (R8.15bn), a person familiar with the matter said.

Zeekr, which is the premium brand of Chinese carmaker Geely, upsized its IPO to sell 21 million American Depositary Shares at $21 per share, the source said, requesting anonymity as these discussions are confidential.

The IPO gives Zeekr a fully diluted valuation, which includes securities such as options and restricted stock units, of $5.5bn (R101.62bn). On a non-diluted basis, the IPO values the company at about $5.1bn (R94.23bn).

The company closed orders from investors a day earlier after its IPO was oversubscribed, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Zeekr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The strong demand for Zeekr’s IPO comes against a backdrop of a fierce EV price war in China that has undercut profits, leaving a number of companies to pursue expansion outside China where they can charge more and beef up their margins.

Zeekr is one of a number of Chinese carmakers, including BYD, SAIC and Great Wall Motor that have set their sights on Europe, rolling out electric models as they seek to compete with legacy European carmakers on their own turf.

BYD and state-backed Chery have already announced plans to build cars in Europe.

While Zeekr successfully pulled off its US flotation, its IPO valuation represents a climb-down from the $13bn (R240.19bn) it was valued at when it raised $750m (R13.86bn) from new and existing investors last year.

Zeekr delivered its first vehicle in October 2021. The company delivered a total of about 196,633 cars, mostly in China, as of December 31.

Since the start of the year, Zeekr's deliveries have overtaken its nearest competitors. Zeekr delivered 49,148 vehicles in the first four months ended April 30, while Xpeng delivered 31,214 units and Nio delivered 45,673 cars during the same period, according to regulatory filings and press releases.

Zeekr's prospectus disclosed a surge in total revenue to 51.67-billion yuan (R134.87bn) in 2023, up from 31.9-billion (R81.57bn) a year earlier. However, its loss from operations widened to 8.18-billion yuan (R20.92bn) from 7.15-billion (R18.28bn).

The Zeekr listing is the biggest Chinese flotation on US stock exchanges since 2021 when LianBio listed its shares in New York. Last year Zeekr had put its IPO plans on hold, Reuters previously reported.

The number of Chinese companies that have pursued stock market flotations in the US in the past few years has plummeted, after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global was forced to delist its shares following a backlash from Chinese regulators.

In 2023, Chinese IPOs raised a total of $668m (R12.34bn), compared to the $13.7bn (R253.13bn) raised in 2020, according to data from Dealogic. Prior to Zeekr's IPO, Chinese companies raised $52m (R960.78m) through share sales in the US this year.

Zeekr will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "ZK" on Friday. Cornerstone investors, including Geely, have subscribed for up to $349.1m (R6.45bn) worth of the shares that are being sold.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and CICC are the lead underwriters for the offering.