Author / Cheng Rui

Produced by / Five-Star Car Reviews

Having debuted on the US stock market in May 2024 and announced its privatization and return in May 2025, what insights does Zeekr's (ZK.US) "one-year odyssey" reveal?

On May 7, Geely Automobile (00175.HK) announced Zeekr's plan to privatize and delist from the NYSE. Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, emphasized on the same day the necessity to "consistently advance the integration of automotive operations and reunite under one Geely roof."

This strategic move aims to foster deep integration and efficient collaboration of internal resources, eliminate redundant investments, reduce costs, bolster corporate competitiveness, and generate long-term value.

For 2025, Zeekr aims to deliver 320,000 vehicles, marking a target increase of approximately 12%, while Lynk & Co targets 390,000 vehicles, expecting a year-on-year growth of 36.65%, summing up to 710,000 vehicles combined. In the first four months of this year, Zeekr sold 55,100 vehicles, up 12% year-on-year, just meeting the target growth rate but with only one-third of the year elapsed, sales progress stands at 17.2%.

In fact, from a sales and revenue perspective, Zeekr's delisting is not due to underperformance but rather a group-wide strategy where the current situation reflects an internal "left hand versus right hand" scenario. Furthermore, despite rising sales over the past two years, Zeekr's cumulative net loss from 2021 to 2024 exceeded RMB 26.2 billion, which could also be a compelling reason for the urgent need for integration.

On May 7, Geely Automobile announced that to drive deep integration and efficient collaboration, eliminate redundant investments, reduce costs, enhance competitiveness, and create long-term value, the company submitted a non-binding offer letter to Zeekr on the same day. Based on this, Geely Automobile has initially expressed its intention to make a privatization proposal to acquire all issued and outstanding Zeekr shares and American Depositary Shares (ADS) (excluding those beneficially owned by the Group), subject to further negotiations and the signing of a definitive agreement.

The announcement disclosed that Geely Automobile proposed a valuation of Zeekr at USD 2.566 per share or USD 25.66 per ADS.

Each Zeekr shareholder and ADS holder may opt to receive USD 2.566 in cash or 1.23 newly issued shares for each Zeekr share, based on the volume-weighted average price of HKD 16.14 per share on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong over the last 30 trading days up to the last trading day and the exchange rate of USD to HKD at 1:7.7503; or USD 25.66 in cash or 12.3 newly issued shares for each ADS, calculated similarly.

If a Zeekr shareholder or ADS holder fails to make a valid selection, they will be deemed to have chosen the cash option.

The announcement indicated that this price represents a premium of approximately 13.6% over the closing transaction price of the ADS on the NYSE on the last trading day and a premium of 20.0% over the volume-weighted average price of the ADS on the NYSE during the last 30 trading days up to and including the last trading day.

It's worth noting that Geely Automobile holds approximately 65.7% of the total issued and outstanding share capital of Zeekr. Should the privatization proposal be implemented and completed, Zeekr will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Automobile, achieving privatization and delisting from the NYSE.

Geely Automobile explained that the expected privatization proposal will establish a unified listing platform for the Group, fully integrating Zeekr's assets and resources, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of the Group's passenger vehicle business. This will also facilitate the Group in determining Zeekr's future strategic direction to address global market and economic challenges.

Zeekr was jointly invested in by Geely Automobile and Geely Holding Group with an investment of RMB 2 billion. On the evening of May 10, 2024, Beijing time, Zeekr officially listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "ZK". Due to oversubscription, Zeekr expanded its IPO, issuing a total of 21 million ADS (each ADS corresponding to 10 ordinary shares) at USD 21 per share, raising approximately USD 441 million.

In 2022, the Zeekr brand delivered a total of 71,900 Zeekr 001 vehicles, surpassing the annual delivery target of 70,000 and becoming one of the few new car companies to achieve its sales targets.

In 2023, the Zeekr brand delivered a cumulative total of 118,900 vehicles, representing a year-on-year increase of 65%, positioning it among the top-tier new energy vehicle makers.

At the beginning of 2024, Geely Automobile announced that the Zeekr brand's sales target for 2024 was 230,000 vehicles, surpassing the total deliveries of the previous two years. Recently, Geely Automobile revealed that the Zeekr brand delivered 222,100 vehicles in 2024, up 87% year-on-year, but falling short of the annual target.

For 2025, Zeekr aims to sell 320,000 vehicles, marking a year-on-year increase of about 12%, while Lynk & Co targets 390,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 36.65%, summing up to 710,000 vehicles combined.

"In 2025, Zeekr Technology Group aims to achieve 40% growth and reach the annual sales target of 710,000 vehicles, becoming the BBA of the new energy vehicle era. In the next two years, we aim to become a globally leading high-end luxury new energy vehicle group with annual sales exceeding 1 million vehicles, transforming the landscape of the high-end luxury market in China and globally." The statement of An Conghui, CEO of Zeekr Technology Group, undoubtedly conveys his confidence in the company's future prospects.

In terms of financial performance, from 2021 to 2023, Zeekr's total revenue was RMB 6.528 billion, RMB 31.9 billion, and RMB 51.673 billion, respectively, showcasing a robust growth trend; however, the net losses amounted to RMB 4.514 billion, RMB 7.655 billion, and RMB 8.264 billion, respectively, with the loss amount continuing to escalate.

According to Zeekr's plan, it strives for profitability in 2024. However, Zeekr's recently released 2024 financial report revealed that the company's total revenue for the year was RMB 75.91 billion, up 47% year-on-year. Among this, the company's automotive sales revenue was RMB 55.32 billion, surging 63% year-on-year. The company's net loss for the year was RMB 5.79 billion, narrowing by 30% year-on-year; the adjusted net loss after deducting share-based compensation expenses was RMB 4.71 billion, down 42% year-on-year.

From this perspective, in the past four years, Zeekr's cumulative net loss has exceeded RMB 26.2 billion. For Zeekr, without integration and consolidation, given the increasing R&D investments, achieving profitability in the short term will remain challenging.

Judging from recent initiatives, Geely seems to have grasped the pulse of change. On September 1, 2024, Geely mentioned in the "Taizhou Declaration" the need to mitigate conflicts of interest and redundant investments. In October 2024, the Geometry brand was officially merged into Geely Galaxy. On February 14, 2025, Zeekr and Lynk & Co merged within just three months, leading to the announcement of Zeekr Technology Group. Now, as Zeekr, which has gradually gained strength, returns to Geely's fold, it appears that Geely's "integration saga" is far from over.