The company has been co-owned by Volvo and Geely since its shift to electric vehicles in 2019
The automaker will merge with Gores Guggenheim and Guggenheim capital
The resulting company has been valued at $20 billion (USD), twice the value of the much bigger Renault Group
Polestar, the electrified division of Volvo and Geely, is looking to expand its operations and become a more established automaker by launching new models. To help with this goal, the company will be going public.
By merging with Gores Guggenheim, a special purpose acquisition company, and Guggenheim capital, a private equity investor, (both backed by American billionaire Alec Gores), Polestar hopes to be able to increase its vehicle sales from 10,000 in 2020 to 300,000 in 2025, as well as enter 16 new markets (Polestar is currently present in 14 countries).
This merger would give Polestar a valuation of $20 billion (USD), which is twice as much as the Renault Group, even if the latter sold over 2.8 million vehicles in 2020.
As a result of the merger, Polestar would have access to $800 million from Gores Guggenheim in addition to $250 million from other investors to develop new models in the coming years.
Currently, the automaker only sells the Polestar 2 electric sedan, since the Polestar 1 flagship hybrid coupe has been disontinued earlier this year. The Polestar 3 large electric SUV is set to be introduced next year and the company is reportedly working on a production version of the precept electric sedan. A smaller SUV is also planned.
Other companies specialised in electric vehicles have already gone public and have achieved high valuation despite having yet to sell a car, but Polestar is the first one to have an actual product that is already on sale to take this route.
Polestar’s former parent company, Volvo, is also looking into going public shortly to increase its funding.
