Lordstown Motors will be following in the footsteps of other electric vehicle makers in recent months to launch an initial public offering (IPO) through a merger with another company.
In the last two months, both Nikola Motors and Fisker Inc. have done the same through reverse mergers, allowing them to list on the stock exchange and get an infusion of cash.
These kinds of deals are important for the likes of Lordstown, Nikola, and Fisker, all of which have little to no revenue to their names. The ability for a quick merger allows them to use the funds from the IPO to help fund construction, production, and manufacturing.
Lorsdtown found and CEO Steve Burns told Bloomberg in a phone interview the deal secures the road ahead for the fledgling EV maker.
“That should get us all the way to the finish line, it will get us into production and also help bring new models quicker than we could have.”
The deal is expected to close later this year in Q4, and be worth about $1.6 billion. Part of the investment will come from General Motors, which is expected to have a significant stake in the company, but still less than 10%.
Lordstown has yet to sell an electric vehicle, and only revealed their first pickup truck prototype, the Endurance, in June. Plans call for an annual production rate of 20,000 for the trucks to begin in 2021, which will be aimed at contractors and other buyers in the commercial market.
The vehicles will be manufactured at its plant 6.2 million square foot facility in Lordstown, Ohio, which was acquired from General Motors in November 2019.
