Key Takeaways:
Zeekr's shares were suspended on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, moving it closer to its planned delisting and merger with Hong Kong-traded parent Geely
The EV maker's move was driven by company-specific factors as well as an increasingly hostile environment for Chinese companies on Wall Street
While 2025 has been a banner year for Hong Kong IPOs, the exact opposite has been true for the U.S., once a preferred listing destination for fast-growth private Chinese firms. So, it seems quite fitting that one of the biggest movements by a Chinese company on Wall Street this year comes with the departure of electric vehicle (EV) maker Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Ltd. (NYSE:ZK) from the New York Stock Exchange as we head into the final week of 2025.
Zeekr first announced its plan to delist in May, roughly a year after it raised $440 million in one of the biggest new listings by a Chinese company on Wall Street in 2024. So, its departure, announced by the company on Monday in New York, could technically be seen as subtracting $440 million from this year's total fundraising on Wall Street by Chinese firms.
The year was already looking quite miserable for such fundraising, which is expected to total about $1.12 billion by 63 Chinese firms for all 2025, according to Deloitte. That compares with $1.91 billion raised by 59 companies in 2024, showing the number of new listings grew but the average size shrank to just $18 million per IPO this year from $32 million in 2024. If we count Zeekr's privatization as $440 million in negative fundraising, then Chinese firms only raised $680 million on Wall Street this year.
Zeekr's brief life as a listed company was full of twists and turns, and its privatization wasn't all smooth sailing. After selling American depositary shares (ADS) for ...
