Chinese carmaker Geely to take Zeekr unit private at US$6.83bil valuation
Geely Automobile will take its premium electric vehicle unit Zeekr private at a $6.83 billion valuation, as the Chinese automaker streamlines its business and sharpens its competitive edge.
Under the agreement, Geely will acquire the remaining stake it does not already own for $2.687 per share, or $26.87 per American depositary share, the companies said in separate statements on Tuesday.
The offer, which comes just over a year after Geely took the EV brand public in the U.S., represents an 18.9% premium to Zeekr's last close on May 6. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Geely already owns about 62.8% of Zeekr and initially offered $2.2 billion in May. It has now raised that to around $2.4 billion.
Zeekr's U.S. IPO in May 2024 - which valued the company at $6.8 billion - marked the first major Chinese listing in the U.S. since 2021.
Founded in 2021, Zeekr was launched as Geely's premium electric vehicle brand, showcasing the group's flagship in-house technologies-from EV architecture to battery systems.
The deal also underscores Geely Holding's broader strategic pivot away from its aggressive global acquisition streak.
The company is now focused on operational efficiency and cost reduction, responding to margin pressures and a deepening price war in China's electric vehicle sector.
As part of its overhaul, Geely has reorganized its operations into two main arms - Geely Auto and Zeekr Group - targeting the mass-market and premium segments, respectively.
In March, it consolidated three separate units developing digital cockpit systems into a single 2,000-strong engineering team to boost efficiency and innovation. - Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
43 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Nvidia to boost H20 chip sales to China after US export restrictions ease
BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Nvidia will ramp up supply of Chinese-compliant H20 chips in the coming months and look to bring more advanced semiconductors to the world's second-largest technology market, Chief Executive Jensen Huang said at an event in Beijing. Huang's remarks came after the world's most valuable company said it planned to resume sales of the H20 artificial intelligence chip to China, a move US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said was part of negotiations on rare earths. "H20 was released from its ban, the memory bandwidth is extremely good, for LLMs and other new models it will be excellent," Huang said. "I hope to get more advanced chips into China. Today H20 is still incredibly good, but in coming years, whatever we are allowed to sell to China we will do so." The planned resumption is a reversal of an export restriction imposed in April over US national security concerns. Huang has said that US tech giant Nvidia's leadership position could slip without sales to China, where developers were being courted by Huawei Technologies with chips produced in China. His comments come days after he met with US President Donald Trump, as Nvidia walks a tightrope between the world's two biggest economies, both vying for dominance in AI and other cutting-edge technologies. Huang told media on the sidelines of the supply chain expo in Beijing that licenses for Chinese orders would be approved swiftly, noting: "There are many order books already in." Orders from Chinese companies for H20 chips need to be sent by Nvidia to the US government for approval. NEW CHIP Sources said internet giants ByteDance and Tencent were in the process of submitting applications. ByteDance denied it was submitting applications while Tencent did not respond to a request for comment. Nvidia has also announced it is developing a new chip for Chinese clients called the RTX Pro GPU, that would also be compliant with US export restrictions. Huang said the new chip would be designed specifically for smart factories and for robot training purposes. "Here in China, because there's so much robotics innovation going on, and so much smart factory work being done here, and the supply chain is so vast, RTX Pro is perfect," Huang said. At the expo opening, he described AI models from Chinese firms Deepseek, Alibaba and Tencent as "world class" and said AI was "revolutionising" supply chains.
Focus Malaysia
43 minutes ago
- Focus Malaysia
Glove exports drop again in May as inventory consolidation drags on
THE prospects of the rubber products sector remain bleak, in our view, due to the unfavourable operating environment caused by a longer-than-expected period of inventory consolidation. That said, competition remains intense in non-US markets due to the hostile pricing strategy adopted by Chinese manufacturers. 'We also expect the commissioning of new plants in Indonesia and Vietnam to pose a threat to Malaysia's rubber product sales to the US by as early as Nov 2025,' said RHB. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the country's glove exports saw month-on-month (MoM) declines of 22% and 6% in April and May. This suggests that customer restocking activities remain sluggish as the industry experiences a longer-than-expected gestation period following the front-loading that occurred in quarter four 2024 (4Q24). Continued weakness of the USD against the MYR has also further eroded glovemakers' profitability, with the USD depreciating by 3% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 5.4% year-to-date ( YTD)as of June. The pricing power of Malaysian glove manufacturers has diminished since the entry of Chinese manufacturers, based on our observation. We understand that cost pass-through is now more challenging than during the pre-COVID-19 period, as glovemakers are only able to pass on 50% of any cost increase to customers vs a full cost passthrough previously. With no signs of competition easing, we expect glovemakers' profitability to remain under pressure in the near future. Mandatory EPF contribution for foreign labour is set to kick off by October. We expect this to raise glovemakers' cost of production by 0.8-1% (USD0.15-0.20 per thousand pieces). Meanwhile, the expanded sales & service tax (SST) of 5% applicable to imported natural rubber latex and nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) latex is expected to raise production costs by USD0.25-0.30 (1.3-1.5%). This confluence of factors come at a time when the industry is already grappling with intense competition and limited ability to pass through rising costs to customers. Sector valuation looks attractive, hovering at 0.9x P/B, at 1.2SD below its historical average of 1.2x. However, given the lack of near-term re-rating catalysts, we would not recommend investors to accumulate at this level. As the risk of earnings disappointment in the upcoming August reporting period is high, we think the share price could undergo another round of corrections. The last time the sector was traded at such levels was during 1Q23, where the industry's profit hit a trough level during a period of consolidation. Persistent challenges in cost pass-through, coupled with a rising operating cost environment and a weaker USD are expected to weigh on glovemakers' profitability moving forward. We think cost pass-through will remain challenging, as Malaysia's blended ASPs have hovered between USD19 and USD22 in 1H25, largely unchanged from 4Q24's level. Despite having a competitive edge over Chinese manufacturers – both before and after the announcement of the US reciprocal tariffs – Malaysian glovemakers have been unable to leverage this advantage to raise ASPs. In our view, several factors are at play: i) The pricing formula for gloves primarily comprises raw material prices and FX movements, which means that any price adjustment must be substantiated by those elements (tariff advantages over competitors are not factored in) and ii) customers remain highly price-sensitive, particularly as they continue to manage elevated inventory levels that have yet to be consumed. Natural latex prices last traded at USD1.40 per kg in June vs its average price of USD1.44 per kg in May (-3%). Moving forward, natural latex prices are expected to normalise, thanks to stable supply post the winter season in Thailand (a major latex producing country). Meanwhile, acrylonitrile prices eased 3% MoM in June, averaging at USD1.15 per kg from USD1.18 in May. Moving forward, nitrile prices are expected to ease further due to uneven demand from downstream industries as well as the easing of feedstock prices (ie propylene). The natural gas tariff also spiked 6% MoM in June, averaging at USD3.67 per mmBtu in conjunction with the surge in crude oil prices. Natural gas prices will remain elevated, in our view, primarily driven by the demand-supply mismatch, as supply remains tight. Given the intensifying competition expected in late 4Q25, we hold the view that investor sentiment in the glove industry will remain weak throughout 2H25. In addition, the persistent challenges in cost pass-through, coupled with a rising operating cost environment – due to factors such as the expanded SST and mandatory EPF contribution for foreign workers – and a weakening USD are expected to weigh on glovemakers' profitability moving forward.—July 16, 2025 Main image: The Star
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Malaysia-China mutual visa-free travel begins tomorrow
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian citizens will enjoy visa-free entry to China for short-term visits totalling up to 90 days within a 180-day period, effective Thursday (July 17). In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia said that under the China-Malaysia Agreement on Mutual Visa Exemption, Malaysian and Chinese passport holders may enter, exit, or transit through each other's countries without a visa and stay for up to 30 days per visit, starting Thursday. The visa-free entry applies to purposes such as tourism, family visits, business, cultural exchange, private affairs, medical treatment, and travel as crew members. "The cumulative duration of stay must not exceed 90 days within any 180-day period," the statement stated. The embassy stated that those planning to stay for more than 30 days, or to work, study, engage in media activities, or undertake any activity requiring prior approval, must apply for the appropriate visa before entering the country. The embassy added that inquiries can be made at the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-8966 3925 from 1pm to 5pm on working days, email: klcentre@ or the Chinese consulates in Kuching (Tel: 08-223 8344, email: and Kota Kinabalu (Tel: 08-8385480, email kk@ The agreement to extend visa exemption between China and Malaysia was exchanged during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Kuala Lumpur in April. - Bernama
