EV Startup Arrival Will Arrive Publicly Under NASDAQ Symbol ARVL
Arrival, an electric vehicle automaker that makes buses and vans, will be going public with the NASDAQ symbol ARVL. The company will be going public with a $5.4 billion valuation through CIIG Merger, which operates as a “blank check” company and was founded by former Marvel Comics CEO Peter Cuneo.
The deal is expected to raise a total of $660 million. After receiving a $118 million investment from BlackRock, Arrival was last valued at $3 billion. Other investors in Arrival are Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors, and UPS, which committed to an order of 10,000 electric vans earlier this year.
Arrival has signed contracts with a total order value of up to $1.2 billion, and its first products are planned for production in Q4 2021, to be produced at a “microfactory” in South Carolina.
The London-based startup was founded in 2015 with a focus on making cities cleaner and more efficient places in which to live. Arrival’s primary focus is on the commercial vehicle market, which the company notes is undergoing a seismic shift towards electrification in line with global public policy. In a statement, Arrival noted that it has created a new method of designing and producing zero-emission vehicles using a blend of its proprietary hardware, software, robotics, and low-cost “microfactories.”
Arrival pointed out that its microfactories can be deployed anywhere in the world within six months by using existing warehouses close to areas of demand. They are designed to produce any vehicle from Arrival’s portfolio, customized for the cities and regions they serve. The vehicles are also designed for microfactory assembly. In its statement on its blog, Arrival said that it expects to achieve profitability across its business by 2023. Its strategy is to reach industry-transforming flexibility and scalability by using these microfactories.
Denis Sverdlov, Founder and CEO of Arrival, shared his thoughts in a statement. “With Arrival’s products, our clients are not forced to compromise between being green and being cost-efficient. Our focus on the whole EV ecosystem, new methods of design and production, and our enabling technologies are the key to driving down the cost of EVs and accelerating the transition to zero-emission transportation globally. CIIG’s leadership team has invaluable experience building businesses globally across a wide range of industries. We are excited to partner with them as we begin our journey to being a publicly-listed company and delivering our products to customers and cities around the world.”
Peter Cuneo, CIIG’s Chairman and CEO also made a statement and noted that Arrival was the clear winner in his search for a partner. “Arrival’s bold, game-changing approach to the production of electric vehicles made the company the clear winner in our search for a partner. Operating in stealth mode for five years, Denis and his visionary team have rewritten the rules of the game for the auto industry. Arrival’s development of exceptional products using its pioneering technology and software alongside its groundbreaking new method of production can create an incredibly low TCO for customers which we believe stands them apart from everyone else in the electric vehicle industry. We look excitedly to the future and to our partnership with Arrival’s talented leadership team.”
Related story: Arrival Rolls Out Slick, Sleek, Smooth Electric Bus
Image courtesy Arrival.
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