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

(Bloomberg) -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and SK Holdings Co. have agreed to invest in Hong Kong-based GLY Capital Management’s transport and technology innovation fund which is set to raise as much as $300 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Chinese automotive group and the South Korean conglomerate SK Group’s holding company will be anchor investors in GLY Capital’s New Mobility Fund, the person said, asked not to be identified as the information is private. The fund will invest in mid-to-late-stage growth companies that are innovating in the transportation industry and related sectors, they said.

Geely and SK will be members of New Mobility Fund’s strategic advisory board, the person said. The fund is open to outside investors, they said.

Representatives for Geely and SK Holdings declined to comment.

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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