Geely no longer majority shareholder of Zeekr, except it still kinda is

Geely’s newest premium EV company, Zeekr is the Chinese conglomerate’s most ambitious project with its first model, the Zeekr 001 selling out in just a couple of months, and Geely’s founder and chairman, Li Shufu taking over as the new company’s boss.

However, recent reports have stated that Geely will no longer hold a majority stake in the EV company. This will open the door for outside financing in Zeekr in order to accelerate its EV development faster.

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When Zeekr was launched earlier this year, it was 51 percent owned by Geely Auto Group and 49 percent by Geely Holding Group. Currently, the young company is wholly owned by a company called Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile Co., also known as Maple, according to Chinese data provider TianYanCha.

Interestingly, Maple is 91 percent owned by Value Century, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Auto Group. Essentially, Geely still owns Zeekr albeit with a few degrees of separation but the company won’t be listed as an investor.

The reason for this move is due to Geely withdrawing from its listing on the Shanghai STAR market. It is touted as China’s equivalent to the American Nasdaq market but it solely focuses on Chinese science and technology equities.

Geely initially planned to raise RMB 20 billion (~RM 13 billion) through the STAR market but due to changes in China’s regulatory environment, it eventually pulled out.

With the current rapid development of the smart electric vehicle industry, Geely and Zeekr would have to find other means to get more funding quickly. For the former, that would mean relinquishing its stake in its brand-new upstart.

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