Zeekr has confidentially filed for a US IPO aimed at raising more than $1 billion, Reuters reported.

(Image credit: Zeekr)

Geely's premium electric vehicle (EV) brand Zeekr is said to be seeking an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, after it had been preparing for a potential listing.

Zeekr has confidentially filed for a US IPO aimed at raising more than $1 billion, Reuters said in a report today, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Zeekr is seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion, which would be the first major US IPO of a Chinese company in a year and a half, two of the sources said.

The company filed paperwork with US regulators last week and plans to list in New York as early as the second quarter of 2023, according to the report.

Zeekr had also considered Hong Kong as the venue for its IPO, but chose New York in hopes of a higher valuation, the report said.

Zeekr was officially launched as a standalone company in March 2021, and Zeekr 001 was announced on April 15 last year.

On November 1, Zeekr's second model, the Zeekr 009 MPV, was launched in China, and its deliveries are expected to begin in January 2023.

The Zeekr 001 delivered 11,011 units in November, up 447.3 percent year-on-year and 8.8 percent from October.

Since deliveries of the Zeekr 001 began last October, cumulative deliveries of the Zeekr stand at 66,611 units, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

On October 31, Geely said in an announcement that it had submitted a proposal to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to spin off Zeekr and list it separately.

In response to Zeekr's spin-off plan, Geely said in an interview with The Paper at the time that Zeekr management would put the business first and ensure that it meets its full-year delivery target of 70,000 vehicles by 2022.

On August 25, Bloomberg reported that Zeekr was considering an IPO at the time and had sought advice from investment banks.

Zeekr was exploring listing locations including the US and Hong Kong and has not yet decided on the size of the IPO, according to the report.