China’s Geely Auto is officially taking its luxury EV subsidiary Zeekr private, just over a year after the company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange.
The news comes two months after Geely offered to take Zeekr private, following President Donald Trump’s threats earlier this year to delist Chinese stocks from U.S. exchanges.
When the merger closes, Zeekr shareholders will receive either $2.69 in cash per share or 1.23 newly issued Geely shares for each Zeekr share they own, per a regulatory filing. Holders of Zeekr American depositary shares (ADSs), which each represent 10 Zeekr shares, will receive either $26.87 in cash or 12.3 Geely shares, delivered as Geely ADSs. It’s a slightly higher offering than what Geely first proposed in May.
Investors can choose between cash or stock options, except for certain Hong Kong retail investors, who will receive cash by default.
Zeekr’s board has already approved the merger, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.
It’s not clear how Zeekr’s move to go private will affect its deal with Waymo to build purpose-built robotaxis for large-scale deployment in the U.S. Waymo is expected to launch its Zeekr vehicles in the Bay Area this year, some of which have been spotted testing on the roads of San Francisco.
TechCrunch has reached out to Waymo for more information.
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