Self-driving truck firm Einride to go public via SPAC deal at $1.8 billion valuation
An Einride Pod, an electric self-driving truck developed by Einride, which has no cabin for a driver, is shown in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on November 3, 2021. Einride/Handout via REUTERS
Swedish autonomous trucking company Einride said on Wednesday it has agreed to go public in the U.S. through a merger with blank-check firm Legato Merger Corp III in a deal valuing the company at $1.8 billion.
The listing comes after a wave of electric-vehicle startups went public during the pandemic-era SPAC boom with the aim of capitalizing on the huge demand for clean-energy vehicles and government incentives for the purchase of battery-powered cars.
But several of those firms including Nikola, Lordstown Motors and Proterra have gone bankrupt since then due to strong competition, operational challenges and high costs that eroded their cash reserves.
Autonomous trucking firms are looking to automate shipping and logistics amid heightened demand for quicker freight deliveries as they seek to commercialize self-driving technology while navigating tariff pressures.
"We have a multi-sourcing strategy across all of our important input goods. So I think we have a pretty good understanding of the situation," Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli told Reuters.
With the listing, Einride is seeking up to $100 million of private investment in public equity to accelerate its growth. The deal is also bolstered by the $100 million it raised in October from investors including EQT Ventures.
Founded in 2016, Einride has $65 million of contracted annual recurring revenue, of which about $45 million is deployed, Charli said. It also has around $800 million of ARR equivalent in scaling plans with its customers.
Existing shareholders, such as EQT and Ericsson, are expected to own around 83 per cent of equity after the deal closes and the existing management team will continue to lead the firm.
A SPAC is a shell firm that raises money through an IPO to merge with a private business and take it public, providing a quicker route to market than a traditional IPO.
