Xos Inc., a North Hollywood, Calif.-based manufacturer of large electric commercial vehicles, will go public by merging with the blank check firm NextGen Acquisition Corp. in a deal valuing Xos at $2 billion.
The transaction is the latest in a series of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deals raising capital for companies developing electrified transportation products and services.
A SPAC is a company with no commercial operations formed strictly to raise capital for an existing company through an initial public offering.
As a result, Xos will receive $575 million in proceeds, including a $220 million investment from a group led by Janus Henderson Investors and Thompson Truck Centers, which encompasses several commercial truck dealers.
Its shares will trade on the Nasdaq
NDAQ
“In 2016, my co-founder and I set out to build a company whose mission was to decarbonize transportation through the design, engineering and development of purpose-built commercial vehicles,” said Dakota Semler, Xos chief executive, in a statement. “Our aim was to provide customers a superior alternative to traditional fossil fuel vehicles.”
George Mattson, a former Goldman Sachs
GS
Mattson will join Xos’s board of directors.
Semler will remain CEO. Giordano Sordoni will continue as chief operation officer and the existing team, including Chief Technology Officer Robert Ferber and Chief Financial Officer Kingsley Afemikhe, will remain intact.
Since 2019, when it changed its name from Thor, Xos has had vehicles on the road with United Parcel Service
UPS
In a press release, the company said it has a backlog of more than 6,000 vehicle orders, both contracted and optional.
The trucks are a key alternative in the effort to reduce carbon emissions in the logistics and trucking industries. Xos estimates the market for electric commercial vehicles at as much as $100 billion.