A British startup founded by ex-Yota CEO Denis Sverdlov is preparing to go public to the Nasdaq exchange. At the same time, Arrival will avoid the IPO process and become public by merging with CIIG Merger.
Interestingly, CIIG Merger was founded by Peter Cuneo, the former head of the American personal care brand Remington and publisher Marvel Comics. He will join the Board of Directors of Arrival as a non-Executive Chairman, and Denis Sverdlov will become the head of the combined company.
Entering the stock exchange under the Ticker ARVL will take place at a valuation of $5.4 billion, the company expects to earn $660 million on the sale of shares. It is planned to close the deal by the beginning of 2021.
One of Arrival's key products is the electric bus, introduced in June 2020. The zero-emission Arrival Bus should transform the public transport industry at a time when it is facing the biggest challenges associated with the pandemic, the startup said.
One of the main ideas of Arrival is a unique technology that will allow the Assembly of electric buses "on the spot". In other words, local micro-factories will be able to produce Arrival Bus, and this, according to the startup's idea, should support the local economy in various, including small cities around the world. Moscow authorities have already expressed interest in building such a factory.
At the beginning of 2020, Arrival attracted €100 million-they were invested in the startup of Denis Sverdlov by the Korean carmaker Hyundai/KIA at a valuation of €3 billion. At the moment, Arrival is one of the most expensive British "unicorns".
