Sidley represented Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (HKEX: 175) (Geely Auto) on the distribution of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) of ZEEKR to Geely Auto’s qualifying shareholders pursuant to Practice Note 15 to the Hong Kong Listing Rules and Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, which is in connection with the spin off listing of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology Holding Limited (NYSE: ZR) (ZEEKR) on the New York Stock Exchange.
ZEEKR raised more than US$440 million in the transaction, making it the largest U.S. IPO of China concept stocks in the past three years.
Geely Auto is a leading new energy vehicle manufacturer in China, and ZEEKR focuses on producing luxury battery electric vehicles. ZEEKR is one of the high-end electric vehicle brands with the fastest production growth, with a cumulative production volume of 196,633 vehicles as of December 31, 2023. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (Geely Holding) is the controlling shareholder (as defined in the HKEx Listing Rules) of Geely Auto. Geely Holding has been on the Fortune Global 500 List for 12 consecutive years, and is the only Chinese automobile group in the top ten global automobile brand portfolio value rankings.
The Sidley team is led by partners Constance Choy, Dr. Meng Ding and Carrie Li. Prabhat K. Mehta, the co-chair of Sidley’s Legal Opinions and Audit Letters Committee, provided guidance on the transaction, and counsel Liming Xu provided support.
