The UK-based electric van and bus startup, Arrival, is all set to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, through a merger with CIIG Merger Corp. This deal is expected to value the combined company at more than $5.4B (nearly €4.56B).
Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will be named Arrival Group and is expected to be listed on NASDAQ under the new ticker symbol “ARVL”.
Technology entrepreneur Denis Sverdlov will remain as Arrival’s CEO, with the ex-Cruise head of strategy, Avinash Rugoobur, continuing as Arrival’s President. Mike Ableson, former VP of global strategy at GM, is CEO of Arrival Automotive overseeing global production.
Development and transaction overview
With this merger and following the share exchanges, the combined company is expected to receive about $660M in gross cash proceeds.
This transaction will be in a combination of:
- Cash from a $400M (approx €337.6M) fully committed stock PIPE – Private Investment in Public Equity and;
- $260M (approx €219.4M) in cash held in CIIG’s trust account
Net cash from the transaction will be used to fund the growth of the combined company.
The PIPE is anchored by institutional investors, including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Wellington Management, and BNP Paribas Asset Management Energy Transition Fund.
Blue-chip companies and investment firms have also invested in Arrival. These include Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Winter Capital, United Parcel Service (“UPS”) and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. Hyundai and Kia are also exploring opportunities to co-develop zero-emission vehicles with Arrival.
Besides, existing investor UPS – a logistics company, has committed to purchase 10,000 electric vans, and more thereafter.
About Arrival
Founded in 2015 by Denis Sverdlov, Arrival is a technology company that develops a generation of two electric vehicles (EV). It develops software, materials, components, and scalable skateboard platforms and its micro-factories that allow them to make vehicles and adapt to any mobility ecosystem.
According to the company, its new method uses Low CapEx, scalable microfactories combined with proprietary in-house developed components, materials, and software, that enables the production of vehicles competitively priced to fossil fuel variants and with a substantially lower Total Cost of Ownership (“TCO”).
Recently, the UK company had raised $118M (approx €100M) from BlackRock. With this funding, BlackRock joins other investors, including Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, and UPS.
Arrival has over 1,300 global employees located in offices across the United States, Germany, Netherlands, Israel, Russia, and Luxembourg. The company is deploying its first two Microfactories in South Carolina, US and Bicester, the UK in 2021.
The company claims to be one of the UK’s largest unicorns. Earlier this year, the company revealed its zero-emission bus. According to Arrival, it partners with governments and cities to create an Integrated Public Transport ecosystem that supports their net-zero emission goals. Arrival’s Integrated Public Transportation Ecosystem includes buses, cars for sharing, taxis, delivery robots, charging infrastructure, Microfactories, and digital services.
About CIIG Merger Corp
CIIG is a special purpose acquisition company build for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganisation, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. It was founded by Peter Cuneo, Gavin Cuneo, and Michael Minnick.
Image credit: Arrival
