Previously bankrupt electric vehicle startup Fisker is set to raise new capital through a public share sale with Apollo Global Management-backed firm Spartan Energy Acquisition. The merger will result in a combined company with a value of more than $2.9 billion.
Fisker announced the planned merger with the special purpose acquisition firm on Monday. Through the merger, Fisker will be able to raise new capital to finally get its operations underway to deliver on its previous promise of getting its electric vehicles to production. The deal is expected to be completed sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.
Spartan energy, which is already publicly traded, saw its shares surge by more than 29 percent on Monday following the announcement of the merger. The move is similar to that employed by electric startup company Nikola, which merged with VectoQ last month. VectoIQ is also a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company.
According to Fisker, the merger will result in additional funding of more than $1 billion after the electric carmaker goes public through a SPAC IPO with Spartan Energy. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Cowen are acting as co-placement agents for the public equity offering. The company stated that the funding will be necessary for it to finally produce its first electric model, called the Fisker Ocean, which it plans to roll out sometime in 2022.
Fisker's founder and chief executive officer, Henrik Fisker, mentioned in an interview that the deal was the best and only move for the company for it to finally realize its goals and move forward. He added that the company has no plans to raise any additional capital in the near future. The car designer, who is credited for designing iconic vehicles such as the Aston Martin DB9 and the BMW Z8, did not elaborate further on the company's plans. He did however state that the company is not planning to build its own manufacturing plant, which means that it may be relying on third-party manufacturers for components.
Fisker's original company, Fisker Automotive, originally went belly up after its main battery supplies A123 Systems went bankrupt in 2012. The company never managed to deliver on its promise to build its all-electric Fisker Karma luxury model.
Fisker Automotive eventually followed suit and filed for bankruptcy in 2013. The company then sold off its assets to Chinese firm Wanxiang Group, while Fisker retained the company's branding and name. Wanxiang Group then established a company called Karma Automotive and launched the Karma Revero, a plug-in hybrid based on the Fisker Karma.
