Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker Rivian files for IPO
With $10.5bn raised from backers including Amazon and Ford Motor, Rivian is among the most serious competitors lining up to take on Tesla
30 August 2021 - 17:46
byEd Ludlow, Siddharth Philip and Kiel Porter
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
A Rivian R1S sport utility vehicle. Picture: SUPPLIED
Rivian Automotive, the maker of electric trucks backed by Amazon.com, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) and is seeking a roughly $80bn valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Irvine, California-based start-up said in a statement on Friday that it submitted its S-1 registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company would like to do an IPO around the November 25 Thanksgiving holiday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the filing was confidential. The timing will depend on approval from the SEC.
Should Rivian go public at an $80bn market capitalisation, it would be one of the biggest debuts on that basis in 2021. With $10.5bn raised from backers including Amazon and Ford Motor, an established factory in Illinois and thousands of reservation holders for its R1T truck and R1S sport utility vehicle, Rivian is among the most serious competitors lining up to take on electric-vehicle leader Tesla.
Rivian said in its statement that the size and price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The company is working on the IPO with advisers including Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Amazon shares rose as much as 0.6% shortly after the start of regular trading, while Ford advanced more than 2%. Rivian’s institutional investors include T Rowe Price, BlackRock, Soros Fund Management, Fidelity, Coatue and Third Point.
While the company has a who’s-who list of backers, it has yet to delivery any vehicles to retail customers and has encountered multiple setbacks starting production. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about supply-chain disruptions and parts shortages that have forced CEO RJ Scaringe to postpone its model launches several times.
Even so, the company has grand plans. It’s scouting locations for a European manufacturing site, Bloomberg News reported in February, and is in talks with the city of Fort Worth, Texas, about investing at least $5bn in a second US assembly plant.
The R1T truck is slated to go into limited production in days and boasts 643km of driving range. The company will build the truck and the R1S, which has been delayed indefinitely, at a former Mitsubishi Motors plant in Normal, Illinois, the US.
Rivian also has a contract with Amazon to build 100,000 electric delivery vans by the end of the decade, with 10,000 due by the end of 2022.
Equity capital markets have seen a slew of big IPOs in 2021, including Robinhood Markets. Another large start-up, restaurant payments firm Toast, filed on Friday for its offering, while eyewear retailer Warby Parker unveiled its financials earlier this week ahead of a direct listing.
Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker Rivian files for IPO
With $10.5bn raised from backers including Amazon and Ford Motor, Rivian is among the most serious competitors lining up to take on Tesla
Rivian Automotive, the maker of electric trucks backed by Amazon.com, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) and is seeking a roughly $80bn valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Irvine, California-based start-up said in a statement on Friday that it submitted its S-1 registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company would like to do an IPO around the November 25 Thanksgiving holiday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the filing was confidential. The timing will depend on approval from the SEC.
Should Rivian go public at an $80bn market capitalisation, it would be one of the biggest debuts on that basis in 2021. With $10.5bn raised from backers including Amazon and Ford Motor, an established factory in Illinois and thousands of reservation holders for its R1T truck and R1S sport utility vehicle, Rivian is among the most serious competitors lining up to take on electric-vehicle leader Tesla.
Rivian said in its statement that the size and price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The company is working on the IPO with advisers including Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Amazon shares rose as much as 0.6% shortly after the start of regular trading, while Ford advanced more than 2%. Rivian’s institutional investors include T Rowe Price, BlackRock, Soros Fund Management, Fidelity, Coatue and Third Point.
While the company has a who’s-who list of backers, it has yet to delivery any vehicles to retail customers and has encountered multiple setbacks starting production. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about supply-chain disruptions and parts shortages that have forced CEO RJ Scaringe to postpone its model launches several times.
Even so, the company has grand plans. It’s scouting locations for a European manufacturing site, Bloomberg News reported in February, and is in talks with the city of Fort Worth, Texas, about investing at least $5bn in a second US assembly plant.
The R1T truck is slated to go into limited production in days and boasts 643km of driving range. The company will build the truck and the R1S, which has been delayed indefinitely, at a former Mitsubishi Motors plant in Normal, Illinois, the US.
Rivian also has a contract with Amazon to build 100,000 electric delivery vans by the end of the decade, with 10,000 due by the end of 2022.
Equity capital markets have seen a slew of big IPOs in 2021, including Robinhood Markets. Another large start-up, restaurant payments firm Toast, filed on Friday for its offering, while eyewear retailer Warby Parker unveiled its financials earlier this week ahead of a direct listing.
Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Pioneer Akira Yoshino on next generation of EV batteries and Apple
Nikola slumps after founder Trevor Milton charged with lying to investors
Tesla quarterly profit surpasses $1bn for the first time
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.