Polestar has officially gone public and is trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol ‘PSNY’.
The Swedish company is just the latest in a long line of electric vehicle makers to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) over the past couple of years. It did so after merging with Gores Guggenheim. Polestar’s shares ended Friday at $13, a 15.8 per cent increase from the SPAC’s closing price on Thursday.
While speaking with CNBC, Polestar chief executive Thomas Ingenlath said the IPO will generate $890 million for the company and help it fund its three-year plan to introduce a number of new models. He pointed out that the car manufacturer has progressed well beyond the startup stage of its EV peers that have also gone public recently, noting that it has already produced over 55,000 vehicles, has a functioning factory in China, and is still 48 per cent owned by Volvo Cars.
Read Also: Polestar 3, 4, And 5 Teased As An Onslaught Of Models Is On The Horizon
“We go public as an operating and successful business — not to raise capital to build a business,” Ingenlatah said. “It’s because the next three years will be super-fast growth, the company is geared up for that with the product portfolio.”
Polestar is preparing to introduce the 3 crossover, 4 sedan, and 5 sports sedan in the coming three years as it expands its range and looks to increase its share of the EV market.
Ingenlath acknowledged that the company may need to generate more cash before it can become profitable and said this would likely be done through the issuing of bonds.
“This is a hugely proud moment for the entire team at Polestar,” he added. “We will now open a new chapter in our story that can be summarized in one word – growth. By 2025 we aim to be selling 290,000 cars per year, 10 times as many as we sold in 2021. We already have a real and successful business; this listing gives us the funds and platform to help deliver our ambitious future plans and drive industry-leading sustainability goals forward.”
