The deal between General Motors and Nikola is not yet finalized, it has been revealed.
General Motors and Nikola first announced the deal on September 8 with plans for it to close before September 30. As part of the deal, GM will receive an 11 per cent stake in Nikola and payments of up to $700 million for building the Nikola Badger pickup. GM also agreed to supply Nikola with fuel cell powertrains for the startup’s planned semi-trucks.
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Despite plans to quickly finalize the deal, GM spokeswoman Juli Huston-Rough told Reuters that it is still not done.
“Our transaction with Nikola has not closed,” Huston-Rough said. “We are continuing our discussions with Nikola and will provide further updates when appropriate or required.”
When the deal was first announced, GM’s 11 per cent stake in Nikola would have been worth about $2 billion. Nikola shares have since dipped to below $18 meaning GM’s stake is worth less than half of what it initially was.
Mere days after the deal between GM and Nikola was announced, short-seller Hindenburg Research released a scathing report of Nikola and its founder Trevor Milton. It was alleged in this report that when publicizing the Nikola One semi, the company took a non-running prototype to a remote section of road in Utah and let it roll down a hill to get a video of the truck in motion. This report sent the company’s shares tumbling and both the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice have opened investigations into Nikola.
