These are some of the electric vehicles made by Lion Electric Co. of Saint Jerome, Quebec.
Lion Electric photo
Lion Electric Co., a Quebec-based manufacturer of electric school buses, mass transit buses and medium and heavy-duty trucks, will go public through a merger with Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company.
The deal will net about $500 million of cash for Lion. The new company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol “LEV.”
The money will be used to expand Lion Electric’s vehicle manufacturing, develop new battery systems and build a new battery assembly factory. The company currently produces its vehicles in Saint Jerome, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal.
“This transaction marks an important milestone in Lion’s continued emergence as a market leader in the design, manufacturing and distribution of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles,” Marc Bedard, Lion founder and chief executive, said in a statement.
Northern Genesis is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a type of business with no commercial operations, but formed solely to raise capital through an initial public offering. The proceed of the IPO are used to buy a private company. Then the SPAC has two years to take that private company public.
“We were focused on engaging with a business whose value proposition is proven by current customers, and whose experience management team fosters a winning culture,” Northern Genesis co-founder Ian Robertson said in a statement.
The deal, which the parties expect to close in the first quarter of 2021, calls for Lion Electric’s shareholders to hold about 70% of the combined company’s common stock, if Northern Genesis shareholders don’t redeem their shares. The company will have a market value of about $1.9 billion.
