Sponsored

MReda

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Oct 16, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
488
Reaction score
818
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Vehicles
Audi S4, Lexus LX470
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...maker-rivian-is-said-to-aim-for-ipo-this-year

Not sure if there is anything meaningful to this, since "people familiar with the matter" is pretty vague. Something to keep an eye on, though.

Amazon-Backed EV-Maker Rivian Aims for IPO This Year

February 9, 2021

Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric-vehicle startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., is looking to go public as soon as September at a valuation of about $50 billion and perhaps more, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company’s timeline for an initial public offering and its potential value might change, and a listing could happen later in the year or even slip to 2022, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Rivian has been speaking to bankers about its plans, one of the people said.

Rivian, one of the highest-profile potential competitors to Tesla Inc., has raised more than $8 billion to date from investors who expect its battery-electric pickup and SUV to perform well in the U.S. market. At a $50 billion valuation, it would likely be one of the biggest IPOs of the year and one of the most noteworthy EV listings since Tesla’s 2010 offering.

The startup was valued at $27.6 billion in a funding round in January, Bloomberg News reported. Rivian raised $2.65 billion in the round from a group of investors led by T. Rowe Price Group Inc. Also in January, Claire McDonough, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive, became Rivian’s chief financial officer.

A representative for Rivian declined to comment.

Several electric vehicle makers and related companies have gone public in the past year through IPOs or through deals with so-called blank-check companies. Chinese EV startup Li Auto Inc. raised $1.26 billion in a U.S. IPO in July. Another Chinese electric-car company, XPeng Inc., raised $1.5 billion in August in a U.S. listing.

Fuel cell-truck startup Hyzon Motors Inc. agreed this month to a merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp., in a deal that values the two combined at more than $2 billion. Last year, Nikola Corp. also went public in a deal with a blank-check company, also known as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

Rivian has more than 3,600 employees split across offices in Michigan and California and its production facility in Illinois.

Rivian also has a deal with Amazon to build 100,000 custom electric delivery vans by 2030. In the near-term, the companies say 10,000 of the vans will be on the road making deliveries by 2022. Rivian will build three different models of the van, which is capable of going about 150 miles on a single charge.

Production and U.S. deliveries of its debut consumer EV, the R1T pickup, are due to start in June. The company will then start delivering its R1S SUV in August. The company has retrofitted a former Mitsubishi Motors plant in Normal, Illinois, where it also plans to build the EV delivery van for Amazon.
Sponsored

 

CommodoreAmiga

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2020
Threads
39
Messages
4,104
Reaction score
7,706
Location
INACTIVE
Vehicles
INACTIVE
There’s zero substitantive information in that article. Certainly no evidence to back up their claims. Maybe it’s true? Or maybe they made it all up. Irresponsible, imo.
 

Sponsored

Lobstahz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
89
Reaction score
164
Location
Boston, MA
Vehicles
R1S, Tesla Model 3, Audi A4
I hope they _aren't_ IPOing in Sept, or anytime in 2021. Launching the R1T and R1S will be hard enough without the added complication of IPOing. I say this from personal experience being part of 2 companies that have IPOd. It usually is an all consuming event for the 6m leading up to it and then creates a ton of work after to meet regulatory and compliance requirements. This would absolutely not be something I'd think they'd want to do when launching their 2 main products, their dealer/showroom network, charging network, etc. Obviously that expansion is capital intensive, but they've already raised significant capital while private, and I imagine they'd be able to continue doing so.
 

Canthoney

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andrew
Joined
Apr 1, 2020
Threads
79
Messages
807
Reaction score
2,186
Location
Kansas City
Vehicles
2022 Kia EV6 FE, 2022 Rivian R1T
Occupation
Self-Employed: Real Estate Management
I would invest. I hope they don’t use a SPAC though, makes the companies that do it seem less legitimate in my opinion.
 

Lmirafuente

Well-Known Member
First Name
Lionel
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Threads
31
Messages
558
Reaction score
574
Location
California
Vehicles
Tesla, Audi Cabriolet
IPO maybe in September.
Rivian R1T R1S Report: Rivian Aims for IPO This Year E58535EE-FC94-4247-BAC8-7B62450AEF0D
 

Lmirafuente

Well-Known Member
First Name
Lionel
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Threads
31
Messages
558
Reaction score
574
Location
California
Vehicles
Tesla, Audi Cabriolet
you know what would be cool...

if they took our deposit and converted them to shares Upon delivery of the vehicle—-and options to buy more...thoughts?
 

kanundrum

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2020
Threads
217
Messages
3,976
Reaction score
12,107
Location
Washington, DC
Vehicles
Giulia QV, R1S (S00N)
Occupation
IT
Clubs
 
Thats cool and all as long as they can meet their target dates and hit everything out of the park for customer delivery. A IPO of a product that let their customer base down from the start sounds MEH to me but Im not a fanboy who will jump on a train of false promises (technically No promises at the moment except for June/August).
 

Sponsored

Trandall

Well-Known Member
First Name
Travis
Joined
Jan 13, 2021
Threads
2
Messages
1,128
Reaction score
2,064
Location
Upstate NY
Vehicles
Rivian R1T, 2023 Mach-E
Occupation
Construction Management
Maybe this means Rivian can splurge and give preorders a T-shirt or duffle bag :confused:. On a serious note I have three wishes.
1. The IPO does not interfere with the pace of customer deliveries as Lobstahz noted.
2. Preorder holders are given a shot to buy shares at IPO price before the public at large.
3. Majority of the cash is used to add value to R1T-S owners, like service center and charging infrastructure.
I could list a bunch more but that might be a topic for another thread "what we want from Rivian"
 
OP
OP

MReda

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Oct 16, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
488
Reaction score
818
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Vehicles
Audi S4, Lexus LX470
I don't think some of these concerns are justified. Their valuation will be significantly higher if they have delivered more vehicles, so there is no reason for them to prioritize the IPO over delivering vehicles, especially since they don't seem to have any trouble raising more capital without going public. My guess is they will prove some initial delivery pace and then use this to raise funding to expand.

Personally, I do hope it's a SPAC, because it makes it a lot easier for retail investors to get in at a reasonable price, but the frequent use of the term IPO indicates it won't be. But, with vague sources and a pretty long timeline (September or 2022), the method they will use may not even be locked down yet. I'll be watching for multi billion dollar SPACs this summer.
 

CommodoreAmiga

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2020
Threads
39
Messages
4,104
Reaction score
7,706
Location
INACTIVE
Vehicles
INACTIVE
I don't think some of these concerns are justified. Their valuation will be significantly higher if they have delivered more vehicles, so there is no reason for them to prioritize the IPO over delivering vehicles, especially since they don't seem to have any trouble raising more capital without going public. My guess is they will prove some initial delivery pace and then use this to raise funding to expand.
The issue is that an IPO requires significant resources. Even if Rivian gives the IPO only the minimum of effort (ill advised) it still pulls significant resources away from ensuring quality and meeting delivery expectations. Also, post-IPO it continues to draw resources and can shift the primary focus of the company. They don’t need the money, right now, so the distraction doesn’t make sense, imo.

Personally, I do hope it's a SPAC, because it makes it a lot easier for retail investors to get in at a reasonable price, but the frequent use of the term IPO indicates it won't be. But, with vague sources and a pretty long timeline (September or 2022), the method they will use may not even be locked down yet. I'll be watching for multi billion dollar SPACs this summer.
I strongly hope it’s not a SPAC. The companies that have used SPACs and all the naive enthusiasm for them (shiny new thing) takes away a lot of credibility. Going the traditional IPO route in a few years would be much more powerful for Rivian, imo.
 

sevengroove

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2020
Threads
25
Messages
1,304
Reaction score
2,777
Location
Seattle, WA
Vehicles
R1S Launch Edition
The issue is that an IPO requires significant resources. Even if Rivian gives the IPO only the minimum of effort (ill advised) it still pulls significant resources away from ensuring quality and meeting delivery expectations.
Asking out of curiosity: how would employees in parts sourcing or on the assembly line be affected by Rivian's IPO efforts? Wouldn't the IPO responsibilities primarily fall on the C-team, accounting, etc?
Sponsored

 
 




Top