Los Angeles, California – Commercial electric vehicle manufacturer Xos has announced plans to take the company public in a merger with blank-check company NextGen Acquisition Corp. The combined equity of the two companies is valued at $2 billion, in addition to raising $220 million from investing groups including Janus Henderson Group Plc.
Demand for commercial electric vehicles has seen a significant increase in states like California, and Xos has stated that the company has additional unannounced distribution partnerships. Current Xos clients include United Parcel Service Inc., transportation company Lonestar, as well as armored car service company Loomis AB.
“Fleets have to begin planning for this and making that transition,” said Dakota Semler, Xos Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
The deal will provide the company with $575 million in gross proceeds, with predictions of Xos being cash flow positive by 2023.
“That money is going to be used to build vehicle assembly and battery manufacturing capacity and to continue to work on next-generation battery systems and other technologies,” said George Mattson, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who started the NextGen SPAC and will be joinng Xos’ board.