RJ Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO, and Ford Government Chairman Invoice Ford announce a $500 million Ford funding in Rivian.
Supply: Ford Motor Co.
DETROIT – Ford Motor liquidated most of its possession stake final yr in electrical automobile maker Rivian Automotive, in accordance with the Detroit automaker’s annual report submitted to the Securities and Trade Fee on Friday.
Ford offered 91 million shares of the EV startup in 2022, according to the filing. Ford’s sale of the shares was price about $3 billion in whole proceeds, the corporate mentioned, a considerable achieve on its $1.2 billion funding in Rivian.
Ford, as of the tip of final yr, nonetheless owned about 11 million of its preliminary 101.9 million shares of Rivian. The corporate declined to touch upon plans for the remaining shares, which nonetheless made the automaker one of many firm’s largest shareholders, in accordance with FactSet. Rivian additionally declined to remark.
Ford first invested in Rivian in 2019, earlier than the EV maker went public. On the time, the 2 corporations mentioned that Ford would construct an electrical automobile based mostly on the “skateboard” platform that now underpins Rivian’s R1T pickup and R1S SUV. Regardless of former Ford CEO Jim Hackett’s enthusiasm for the deal, these plans by no means got here to fruition.
However on account of that preliminary funding, Ford was among the many largest stakeholders within the firm upon Rivian’s blockbuster IPO in 2021, with a 12% stake.
Ford mentioned that it offered 25.2 million shares of Rivian within the second quarter, for about $700 million in whole proceeds. It offered a further 51.9 million shares in the course of the third quarter for about $1.8 billion, in accordance with earlier filings.
Hackett’s successor, Jim Farley, had made it clear that Ford would possible promote its stake, nevertheless it was unclear when the automaker deliberate to promote the shares and exit Rivian.
Ford unrealized positive factors/losses have been $8.3 billion achieve in 2021 and a $968 million loss in 2022, which damaged the automaker’s bottom-line final yr.
Shortly after Rivian’s blockbuster IPO in November 2021, shares of the corporate reached an all-time excessive of practically $180 a share throughout Wall Road’s infatuation with EV startups that led to inflated valuations of early- or pre-revenue corporations.
Rivian’s inventory is now buying and selling round $20 a share, following several missed targets and a slower-than-expected improve in vehicle production at a plant in Regular, Illinois. The corporate is valued at about $18 billion.
