EV maker Polestar bowed today on the Nasdaq, following completion of a mega-merger with Gores Guggenheim yesterday.
Shares opened at $12.98 but by mid-afternoon had slipped nearly 9% to $11.82.
Polestar raised approximately $890 million gross proceeds on the deal through a combination of a fully committed PIPE and the SPAC’s cash in trust.
Share redemptions ahead of the vote amounted to about 20% of the outstanding stock, according to a press release Thursday.
When announced last September, prior to the redemptions, the deal carried an enterprise value of about $20 billion, making it one of the largest SPAC transactions ever.
The deal received extensive media attention, with Polestar buying a television advertising spot during this year’s Super Bowl in February. NBC reportedly charged advertisers $6.5 million per 30-second spot during the big game.
Polestar was spun out of Volvo in 2017. The company’s headquarters are in Sweden with vehicle production in China. Polestar plans to use proceeds from the SPAC deal to fund global expansion and eventually become profitable.
