Geely Set to Take Zeekr Private Ahead of Finalised Merger

Geely Automobile has officially signed a merger agreement with Zeekr to take the brand private from the group.

Geely Holding Group announced today that its subsidiary, Geely Automobile, has signed a merger agreement with Zeekr Technology. With this merger, Geely Auto will acquire all outstanding Zeekr shares not already held by the company, while Zeekr shareholders will be given options to either cash out on their shares or take up Geely Auto shares as consideration.

According to CarNewsChina, this merger will effectively privatise Zeekr, meaning that the company will be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) just over a year after it went public back in May 2024. Upon completion of this privatisation, Zeekr will then become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Automobile, which increased from the current 62.8% ownership on a fully diluted basis.

Under the terms of the agreement, current Zeekr shareholders have the option to receive either cash of up to $2.687 (RM) or 1.23 Geely Auto shares for each Zeekr share they let go.

This privatisation move stems from Geely Auto’s growing confidence in Zeekr, which has shown impressive growth of late. In Q1 2025 alone, Zeekr Technology, which includes both the Zeekr and Lynk & Co marques, delivered a total of 114,011 vehicles, marking a 21.1% year-on-year (YoY) increase.

During this period, the Zeekr brand alone delivered 41,403 units, which marks a 25.2% increase over the same period in the previous year.

More importantly, this merger is expected to yield efficiency gains for Zeekr Technology. For example, the integration of R&D efforts and shared intelligent assisted driving platforms between Zeekr and Lynk & Co has already resulted in a 15% reduction in R&D expenses.

With Zeekr Technology now going private, this could allow the automaker to focus more on product development and technological advancements without the short-term performance pressures from investors. For Geely’s side, the merger allows the company to consolidate its intelligent new energy vehicle (NEV) brands under one roof, thus providing better product synergy and possible future cost-cutting measures.

Source: CarNewsChina