A startup with Russian roots, Arrival, will become a public company with a valuation of $5.4 billion. • The Bell • RIMA

A startup with Russian roots, Arrival, will become a public company with a valuation of $5.4 billion.

The start-up of delivery electric vehicles Arrival, the ex-head of the Yota operator, the former Deputy Minister of Communications Denis Sverdlov, is completing the journey from an idea to a public company. The company goes public in a $5.4 billion takeover scheme, and its founder becomes a billionaire.

According to CNBC, Arrival will go public on the Nasdaq in early 2021 under a "fast track" takeover by a Specialty Technology Company (SPAC). SPAC will be CIIG Merger Corp. former CEO of Black & Decker, Remington and Marvel Peter Cuneo.

For placement, the company is valued at $5.4 billion, which is significantly higher than the estimate of recent private investment rounds ($3.5 billion) with the participation of BlackRock, Winter Capital Partners (connected with Vladimir Potanin's Interros), Hyundai and Kia. The placement plans to raise $660 million, including $400 million from private investors.

“We will reach positive cash flow in 2023. The funds that we will attract now are enough to maintain growth until profit is reached, Sverdlov told Forbes. “Getting guaranteed funding and working towards your goals is a better strategy than endlessly looking for investments.”

If the plans come true, Sverdlov will control about 75% of the company, which means that the estimated size of his fortune will reach $ 4 billion, Forbes notes. This will put him in the top 30 of the Russian list of billionaires according to the magazine.

We talked more about Arrival and its business model here and here . The company differs from other electric vehicle start-ups by a promising niche (delivery electric vans) and a firm order for 10,000 courier electric vehicles from the logistics operator UPS.
Arrival electric cars should cost the same as diesel counterparts, and cost 50% less to maintain. Serial production should begin next year.
Arrival is not the first startup with Russian roots to enter the market with the help of SPAC. The same mechanism is used by the space company of the ex-owner of Technosila Mikhail Kokorich.