Rivian EV truck.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Rivian, the electric vehicle maker backed by Amazon.com that registered last month to debut on the stock exchange, aims to raise between $ 5,000 and $ 8 billion with the listing, making it one of the most initial public offerings. great in recent years in the United States, according to people. familiar with the matter.
Rivian, which has Ford Motor and T. Rowe Price among its investors, secretly registered the U.S. IPO last month. It is looking for a valuation of about $ 80 billion on the list, which is expected to land in late October or November, according to sources.
Rivian declined to comment.
If Rivian raised $ 8 billion on the IPO, it would rank as the fourth largest site in the past decade in the United States. Just three more companies have raised more than $ 8 billion in IPOs since 2011, according to Dealogic: Alibaba, which set a world record $ 25 billion in 2014; Facebook, which raised $ 16 billion in 2012; and Uber, which raised $ 8.1 billion in 2019.
Proceeds from the IPO will allow Rivian to expand production beyond its assembly plant in Normal, Illinois. The startup has said it is in talks with several locations to build a second US factory, which according to documents viewed by Reuters would include an investment of at least $ 5 billion.
Rivian has not provided details on its IPO plans, but is expected to reveal its finances for the first time in a public presentation in the coming weeks.
California-based Rivian is among the most funded U.S. startups, having raised $ 10.5 billion since early 2019. Other investors include BlackRock Inc., Soros Fund Management, Fidelity and the car dealer Saudi Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ).
Although Rivian has been dubbed the “Tesla killer” in some sectors, it is still small compared to Tesla Inc., which has a market capitalization of about $ 740 billion and plans to build a van that can compete with Rivian’s own version, the R1T.
Rivian’s flotation is expected to complete another record year for U.S. IPOs. Companies have raised more than $ 230 billion so far this year with stock sales, according to Dealogic data, and are on track to raise tens of billions more before the end of the year.
Founded as Mainstream Motors in 2009 by CEO RJ Scaringe, the company changed its name to Rivian in 2011. “Rivian” derives from “Indian River” in Florida, a place Scaringe frequented on a rowing boat when he was young.