Geely’s premium EV brand Zeekr raises US$500 million from investors, including CATL and Intel
- The investors will jointly own 5.6 per cent of Zeekr, established by Geely Automobile and its parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in March
- Zeekr is among several brands in China looking to gain a leading position in the mainland’s premium EV segment, currently dominated by Tesla
Zeekr, a premium electric vehicle (EV) brand owned by China’s leading carmaker Geely, has secured funding from a clutch of investors including US chip maker Intel to reinforce its development of next-generation cars.
Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile said in an exchange filing on Friday that Zeekr raised a combined US$500 million from five investors – Intel, battery producer CATL, online entertainment firm Bilibili, Cathy Fortune Corporation, an investor in mining businesses and private equity firm Boyu Capital.
They will jointly own 5.6 per cent of Zeekr, established by Geely Automobile and its parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in March with a total capital of 2 billion yuan (US$308.7 million).
Before the financing, the Hong Kong-listed unit held 51 per cent of Zeekr while the parent, which also owns Volvo Cars and a big stake in Daimler AG, held the remaining 49 per cent.
After the fundraising, Zeerk is valued at about US$9 billion.
“This is a first step for Zeekr to establish an ecosystem where all participants’ interests are aligned, and opens doors for more strategic cooperation among Zeekr and its partners,” the filing said.
