Rivian achieves IPO valuation of 66.5 billion dollars
It was probably one of the most eagerly awaited IPOs of the year: Today, potential Tesla rival Rivian launched its offering on the stock market. And the figures are more than respectable. Originally, the e-carmaker had the goal of reaching a valuation of 60 billion Dollars. But instead, it has risen to a whopping 66,5 billion dollars, as measured by the share price now set, according to CNBC. The fledgling company was able to raise nearly twelve billion dollars for its IPO from investors. With it Rivian immediately rose into the upper league of the car companies and overtook even institutions such as Ferrari, Honda and Hyundai in the evaluation.
Rivian market entry planned for early 2022
Last week, Rivian was still planning to sell 135 million shares of Class A stock at a price of 57 to 62 dollars. On Wednesday, however, the company was able to bring 153 million shares to investors at a price of 78 dollars. That’s all the more impressive considering the company, founded in 2009, has yet to deliver any vehicles to customers. However, the R1 e-pickup is already in production and is scheduled for market launch in early 2022.
E-cars cause almost 70% less emissions in Europe than combustion engines
Rivian has yet to generate any real sales. In the third quarter, the fledgling company says it will lose as much as 1,28 billion dollars, while revenues will range from zero to one million dollars. Nevertheless, the hype around the company is huge, there have been massive funding rounds again and again. In addition, Rivian says it has an order backlog of 55,400 pre-orders for its R1T and R1S electric vehicles. The R1T is a truck whose price starts at 67.500 dollars, and the R1S is an SUV whose price starts at 70.000 dollars. The company expects to fill these orders by the end of 2023. It said its Illinois facility has the capacity to produce up to 150.000 vehicles a year.
Amazon already had shares before IPO
A major stakeholder in Rivian is e-commerce giant Amazon, which has already ordered 100.000 vehicles. The fledgling company aims to deliver them by 2030. It also plans to have 10.000 new Rivian-Amazon delivery vehicles on the road as early as next year. Amazon is converting its fleet to renewable energy sources and announced in 2019 that it will buy thousands of vehicles from Rivian.
Amazon has invested more than 1,3 billion dollars in Rivian and owned 22,4 percent of the shares before the IPO. At the offering price, those are now worth about 12,5 billion dollars. Another pre-IPO stakeholder is the car company Ford. The U.S. firm owned a total of 14,4 percent of the shares before the IPO. These now stand at a value of eight billion dollars.
