Geely’s Luxury EV Brand Lotus Tech Receives Approval for Nasdaq Listing

Luxury electric vehicle manufacturer Lotus Technology Co., Ltd. recently received approval for its planned stock exchange listing from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Lotus Tech is set to list on the Nasdaq in the United States through a merger with the overseas special purpose acquisition company L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp.

In November 2023, Lotus announced that it had signed agreements for approximately $870 million in private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) financing and convertible notes for 2023. Lotus Technology most recently received commitments for around $750 million in new financing, subject to certain closing conditions specified in the relevant final investment documents. These new financing commitments were in addition to the $120 million financing commitment announced by Lotus on April 28, 2023. All financing agreements were based on a pre-money valuation of $5.5 billion. This will result in an expected free float of over 19% for Lotus Technology (excluding existing LCAA shareholders).

In January 2023, Lotus Technology entered into a merger agreement with the special purpose company L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp, with a pro forma equity value for the combined company of $7.02 billion. Originally planned to be completed in the second half of 2023, the merger is expected to complete on February 22, with Lotus Technology’s American Depositary Shares to begin trading on the Nasdaq on February 23 under the stock symbol “LOT.” 

Lotus Technology was established in August 2021 with its headquarters in the Wuhan Economic Development Zone, known as “China Car Valley”. At that time, Lotus Technology also completed a Pre-A round of financing with a valuation of 15 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), with NIO Capital participating in this round of financing.

In recent years, Geely’s founder Li Shufu has successively taken Volvo, Polestar, and Ecarx Technology and other companies public. In December 2022, Ecarx Technology completed a merger with the special purpose acquisition company COVA Acquisition Corp., listing on the Nasdaq with a valuation of $3.8 billion.

Li Shufu has been adept in the capital markets, with his company Geely Auto also filing for an IPO and preparing to list in the United States with a valuation exceeding $10 billion. However, due to the valuation corrections of NIO and XPeng, coupled with the capital markets not warming up, Geely Auto has yet to list on the NYSE. With Lotus Technology’s approval, it signifies that they have obtained the key to listing.

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