Sep 27, 2021 - Economy

Swedish electric vehicle company Polestar goes public via SPAC

Dan Primack

Lightbulb with car inside — Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Polestar, a Swedish maker of electric and hybrid cars that was spun out of Volvo in 2017, agreed to go public at an implied $20 billion valuation via a SPAC formed by Gores Group and Guggenheim Partners.

Why it matters: Polestar has delivered thousands of vehicles, unlike so many other EV SPAC targets (including some with higher valuations). It currently offers a hybrid high-performance car and an all-electric liftback, with an electric SUV coming next.

Investors include Volvo (owned by China's Geely), affiliates of Geely chair Eric Li, GLY Capital Management, Chongqing Chengxing Equity, I Cube Capital, Zibo city government and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The bottom line: "Polestar aims to create a life cycle assessment framework for the electric car manufacturing industry, one in which the entire manufacturing, sales and end-of-life process is so transparent and traceable that the company can create carbon-neutral vehicles." — Rebecca Bellan, TechCrunch

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Swedish electric vehicle company Polestar goes public via SPAC

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