Geely, SK Invest In $300 Million Future of Mobility Fund

(Bloomberg) -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and SK Holdings Co. have agreed to jointly invest in a transport and technology innovation fund which is set to raise as much as $300 million.

The Chinese automotive group and the South Korean conglomerate SK Group’s holding company will be anchor investors in the New Mobility Fund, SK said in a statement confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The fund will invest in mid-to-late-stage growth companies that are innovating in the transportation industry and related sectors.

Geely and SK have seeded the fund with investments of $30 million each, according to the statement. The fund is open to outside investors.

The companies will be members of the strategic advisory board for Hong Kong-based GLY Capital Management’s fund, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the information is private.

Geely, China’s top-ranked locally branded carmaker, has been pushing deeply into electric vehicles in recent months. Sales of new energy vehicles in China could hit 6 million units by 2025, accounting for about 20% of total new car sales, according to S&P Global Platts.

The Chinese carmaker has announced partnerships with search-engine heavyweight Baidu Inc., Foxconn Technology Group and Tencent Holdings Ltd. Geely plans to pour almost $5 billion into building a new battery plant in China’s southern Ganzhou city.

SK Group announced last year that it was in talks with Hyundai Motor Co. over cooperation on next-generation battery technology for electric vehicles. The South Korean conglomerate said in January it would form a strategic partnership with Plug Power Inc. to accelerate the use of hydrogen as an alternative energy source in Asia, and invest $1.5 billion in the U.S. company.

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With assistance from Bloomberg