Troubled commercial EV maker Arrival has just completed a deal to merge – for the second time in less than three years – with a dedicated acquisition company.
Arrival initially went public in March 2021 through a merger with special acquisition firm CIIG Merger Corp. in a deal worth $5.4 billion. Since those high-flying SPAC days of 2021, Arrival has repeatedly delayed production launches, flipped and changed market focus, burned millions of dollars, and restructured the company three times. Arrival’s share price has also taken a hit, falling 87% from its opening figure of $22 in March 2021.
In an effort to avoid bankruptcy, Arrival announced in April 2023 that it had reached an agreement to merge with a second SPAC, or blank check company, called Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. The SPAC with Kensington had a pro forma enterprise value of $524 million.
Arrival said in a regulatory filing that it “intends to shift its focus to advancing other opportunities.” Arrival has hired TD Cowen and Teneo Financial Advisory to “pursue alternative avenues that will provide the company with additional liquidity”.
These second SPACs – a re-SPAC? – may not be a trend yet. But a handful of companies, including UK-based Wejo, have used it to raise money in an otherwise wealthy market.