Nikola Corp to go public at over $3.3 billion valuation

(Reuters) – Electric vehicle maker Nikola Corp said on Tuesday it plans to list on the Nasdaq by merging with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, backed by investors including Fidelity and ValueAct.

After the merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp , structured as a Reverse Morris Trust transaction to save on tax, the combined company will be named Nikola Corp and be valued at more than $3.3 billion, Nikola said.

The transaction will be funded by VectoIQ cash in trust and a $525 million private placement of common stock at $10 per share, led by institutional investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company and ValueAct Spring Fund.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020, has been approved by the boards of both companies.

The combined company will be led by Trevor Milton, CEO of Nikola and be controlled by Nikola shareholders. It will be listed on the Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol NKLA.

(Reporting by Abhishek Manikandan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)