Geely’s premium electric vehicle brand Zeekr entered into a share purchase agreement with five investors on August 27, including Intel Capital, CATL, Bilibili, Cathay Fortune Group and Boyu Capital, in its first external funding round.
Intel is the lead investor in the investment, which will be used to support Zeekr’s continued expansion, according to a statement from Geely.
Zeekr has agreed to issue a total of 126,470,585 shares of Pre-A Series Preferred Stock to these investors for total consideration of $500 million.
These shares will represent approximately 5.6 percent of Zeekr’s enlarged issued share capital, Geely said.
“The new investors are also expected to contribute respective expertise in intelligent connectivity and battery technologies, new generation consumers, and raw materials as Zeekr meets rising demand in China and other key markets for next-generation premium mobility solutions,” Geely said.
Upon completion of the investment, Geely’s stake in Zeekr will drop from 51.0 percent to approximately 48.0 percent, remaining as the single largest shareholder.
Zeekr was formally established in March, with Geely Auto Group holding 51 percent and Geely Holding Group 49 percent of the shares.
In April, Zeekr’s first model, the Zeekr 001, was officially launched, which is based on Geely’s SEA architecture and positioned as a pure electric mid-size sedan.
The model has a 0-100km acceleration time of as short as 3.8s and a maximum NEDC range of 712km.
With a starting price of RMB 281,000 ($43,030) after subsidies and a top price of RMB 360,000, it has a lot of overlap with the Tesla Model 3.
On June 15 the company said it had sold out of Zeekr 001’s deliverable production for the year, so it stopped continuing to accept deposits.
In late June, Geely said the Zeekr board had resolved to explore different external financing options for the company’s sustainability.
On July 12, Geely Holding Group announced it had withdrawn from Zeeker’s shareholders, with Geely Auto Group continuing to hold a 51 percent stake.
Analysts say Zeekr’s independent financing plan good for Geely’s valuation
