Lightning EMotors to Go Public in Reverse Merger With SPAC

(Bloomberg) -- Lightning eMotors, a company that electrifies commercial-vehicle fleets, has agreed to go public through a merger with GigCapital3 Inc., a blank-check company.

The deal is expected to generate gross proceeds of $125 million and gives Lightning eMotors a pro-forma equity valuation of around $823 million, the companies said Thursday in a statement. Bloomberg News had reported the two companies were in talks to merge.

Shares of GigCapital3 jumped 22% in premarket trading Friday.

Lightning eMotors, formerly known as Lightning Hybrids, buys commercial-vehicle chassis from suppliers including Ford Motor Co. and assembles the final, electric versions at its 250,000 square-foot facility in Loveland, Colorado. It adds technology to the vans, trucks and buses that reduces their emissions to zero; it also provides a charging service.

The company said in October it had more than doubled its manufacturing space, ramped up production and doubled its workforce. It expects to reach annual production of 20,000 medium-duty commercial vehicles by 2025.

GigCapital3, led by executive chairman Avi Katz, raised $200 million in a May initial public offering.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of next year, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the merger, the companies said. On completion of the deal, the company will be named Lightning eMotors Inc. and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ZEV.

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