Geely Acquires Major Stake in Smartphone Maker Which Has Alibaba Connection

Billionaire Li Shufu controlled satellite-to-automobile group Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd GELYY, purchased a majority stake in Chinese smartphone maker Meizu Technology Co, the Caixin Global reports.
Geely's Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology Co division bought a 79% stake in Meizu from Meizu's founder and a unit of Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA.
The financial terms of the transaction remain undisclosed.
Adding a smartphone maker comes as cars graduate from mere forms of transport into electric, internet-connected, and autonomous vehicles, Bloomberg reports.
Xingji Shidai, with Li as its principal investor, forayed into the mobile devices sector in September 2021, citing close connection in technologies within intelligent vehicle cockpits and smartphone software technologies.
Multiple leading Chinese tech companies forayed into the autonomous and electric car space, with Xiaomi Corp XIACY planning four EVs and commercializing automobiles. Baidu, Inc BIDU and Geely invested $700 million into their EV joint venture Jidu.
Alibaba invested in Meizu to tap the lucrative smartphone arena. However, Meizu met aggressive competition from Xiaomi, Huawei Technologies Co, and Oppo.
Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 3.74% at $102.20 premarket on the last check Tuesday.