UK-based electric vehicle startup Arrival is set to list its shares in New York. Arrival has already reached a merger agreement with U.S.-based blank check company CIIG for the listing.
Arrival will be valued at around $5.4 billion. Both companies expect the transaction to close within the first quarter of 2021. Arrival said that it expects to raise up to $660 million during its initial public offering.
Arrival, ranked as one of the Top 10 most valuable startup companies in the UK, is the latest electric automaker to merge with a special purpose acquisition company to take advantage of investors hungry for tech stocks. Startup companies such as Fisker and Nikola Corp both announced mergers with SPACs in order to list their shares.
According to Refinitiv, the amount raised by SPACs so far this year is $54 billion. Dealogic data shows that SPAC listings accounted for about half of all capital raised by IPOs in the U.S. during the third quarter.
Unlike its rivals, Arrival is mainly focused on developing and manufacturing electric vans and buses for commercial use. The company also claims that it has developed a "microfactory" assembly line that can be deployed anywhere in the world within just six months.
Some of Arrival's largest backers include major carmakers such as Kia Motors and Hyundai. Early investors in the startup include investment company Blackrock. Earlier in the year, UPS announced that it had secured a contract with Arrival for the delivery of 10,000 electric delivery vans.
CIIG founder, Peter Cuneo, said it was mainly attracted to the company's "game-changing" approach to the business. He added that Arrival was the perfect partner
Investor appetite for electric carmakers has risen in recent months, leading to a rise in share prices for companies such as Tesla, Nikola and China's Nio. The increased interest comes as big carmakers around the world ramp up efforts to electrify their businesses.
