Following Weilai, Ideal, and Xiaopeng, ZEEKR has also successfully IPO.
On the morning of May 10, local time, ZEEKR was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States, and only 37 months have passed since the release of the ZEEKR brand.
As a comparison, it took 4 years for NIO to go public in the United States, 5 years for Ideal, 6 years for Xpeng, and 7 years for Tesla, and ZEEKR won the title of "fastest IPO".
[Second IPO, why is it successful? 】
In fact, in November last year, ZEEKR submitted a prospectus to the United States for the first time, but at present, overseas investors are more conservative in their forecasts for new energy vehicle products and prospects, which led to the suspension of ZEEKR's IPO. On May 8, ZEEKR ended its subscription one day ahead of schedule and was oversubscribed by nearly 5 times, and then ZEEKR expanded its IPO scale and issued a total of 21 million American depositary shares at a price of $21 per share, raising about $441 million.
As partners and investors in the ZEEKR industry chain, CATL and Mobileye both subscribed in this IPO. Among them, Mobileye subscribed US$10 million, and CATL subscribed US$19.08 million.
It is understood that during the IPO process, ZEEKR made certain concessions in valuation, thereby attracting more investors to participate in its IPO.
ZEEKR also has a clear plan for the use of the funds raised in the IPO. About 45% of the funds will be used to develop more advanced BEV technologies and expand the product portfolio; About 45% will be used for sales, marketing and expansion of the service and charging network; Approximately 10% will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital needs to support business operations. This clear plan for the use of funds helps investors better understand the company's future development plans, thereby enhancing their investment confidence.
【Benefits after IPO】
The advantages brought by the IPO to ZEEKR are also huge, first of all, a large amount of capital injection, which helps the company expand its production scale, develop new technologies, and improve product quality, thereby enhancing its market competitiveness. At the same time, these funds can also be used to improve the company's financial position and reduce financial risks.
According to statistics, from 2021 to 2023, the cumulative loss of ZEEKR in three years has exceeded 20 billion yuan. In terms of R&D expenses, ZEEKR has invested about 17 billion yuan in three years. Among them, the R&D expenses of ZEEKR in 2023 will be as high as 8.369 billion yuan.
Secondly, the IPO will make ZEEKR the focus of public attention, and the company's brand awareness, market influence and industry status will be significantly improved, which will especially help to develop overseas markets.
According to the plan, within the year, ZEEKR will enter the luxury market of 8 European countries, and will also enter the markets of 50 countries and regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Australia, and the globalization strategy will be fully accelerated.
In fact, the success of this IPO, there are still many people who think that ZEEKR is undervalued, and throughout the IPO process, ZEEKR also showed a little lack of confidence, which may be related to the low valuation after the previous A round of financing, or it may be related to the fluctuation of the company's performance and investors' concerns about the company's prospects. But in any case, ZEEKR ushered in a new life.
In terms of sales, from January to April this year, ZEEKR delivered a total of 49,148 new cars, a year-on-year increase of more than 110%. Among them, 16,089 units were delivered in April, a year-on-year increase of 99%.
The annual sales target of ZEEKR in 2024 is 230,000 units, do you think ZEEKR can achieve it?