Geely-Backed Lotus Tech to Go Public on Nasdaq Via Business Combination

Lotus Technology, a luxury electric vehicle maker backed by Chinese automotive giant Geely, will carry out a public listing on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol “LOT” via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp, which went public in 2021 and raised $250 million.

The firm, a division of sports car company Lotus, in which Geely Holding owns a majority stake, will be valued at $5.4 billion after the deal.

Through a manufacturing partnership with existing shareholder Geely Holding, Lotus Tech leverages Geely’s 150,000 annual unit production capacity, with a dedicated EV manufacturing and integrated racing facility in Wuhan, China.

Lotus Tech has successfully developed luxury EVs with its wholly-owned R&D facilities in Coventry, Frankfurt, Wuhan, Shanghai, and Ningbo. Lotus Tech’s Wuhan factory has now been built, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles.

All existing Lotus Tech equity holders, including Geely Holding, Malaysia’s Etika, NIO Capital, and more, are expected to retain their interests in Lotus Tech and own a total of approximately 89.7% of the issued and outstanding equity of the combined company.

Lotus Tech plans to start delivering its first model, the electric SUV Eletre, in China during the first quarter before selling the model in the UK and European Union later this year. Eletre features numerous innovative technologies, including fully embedded L4 hardware capabilities enabled by the world’s first deployable LiDAR system and Lotus Tech’s self-developed software system.

Eric Li, the founder of Geely, has successively assisted Volvo, Polestar, and ECARX to go public. Among them, in December 2022, ECARX merged with COVA Acquisition Corp, a SPAC, and was listed on Nasdaq. The new company was priced at $3.8 billion.

SEE ALSO: Geely-Backed Mobility Tech Firm ECARX Debuts on Nasdaq

ECARX is the first Chinese company to list in the United States after regulatory authorities in China and the US formally reached an agreement on December 15 last year, and it is also the first listed company contributed by Li to Wuhan, which has been honored as “China Auto Valley.” Once Lotus Tech is listed in the US, it means that Li will have contributed to another listed company with a market value of more than $5 billion to the Chinese city.