Geely founder's venture buys majority stake in Chinese smartphone maker Meizu

A VENTURE run by the founder of Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding plans to acquire an 79 per cent stake in Chinese smartphone maker Meizu, a statement published by China's anti-monopoly regulator showed on Monday (Jun 13).

The State Administration of Market Regulation said that Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology had agreed to purchase the stake from 2 of Meizu's shareholders. It did not give a value for the deal.

Geely and Meizu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Xingji Shidai was launched by Geely's chairman Eric Li last year as part of a push into premium smartphones, making the Volvo-owner the first established carmaker to enter the highly competitive sector. Li owns a 55 per cent stake in Xingji Shidai.

Reuters reported in September that the venture aims to release its first smartphone by 2023 and sell 3 million units in its first year, citing an internal memo.

The memo also said that the project will be funded with a 10 billion yuan (S$2.1 billion) investment and is also targeting revenue of 10 billion yuan in its first year.

Established in 2003, Meizu was once one of China's most well-know smartphone brands but has in recent years lost ground to the local rivals like Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. REUTERS