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Amazon-Backed EV Startup Rivian Seeks $54.6B Valuation in IPO

Amazon-backed American electric vehicle automaker and automotive technology company Rivian is set to go public through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) route and it is seeking a valuation of $54.6 billion. As contained in its updated prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Rivian said it is set to offer 135 million shares at a minimum price of $57 and a maximum offering price of $62.

According to the company, the Underwriters appointed for the IPO will have an option to acquire an additional 20.25 million shares. Going by the upper end of the IPO pricing, Rivian is set to rake in about $9.6 billion in its market debut, a figure that is guaranteed if the Underwriters exercise their option.

Ahead of the IPO, Rivian confirmed the surging interest from big names in the industry including Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and T Rowe Price Group Inc (NASDAQ: TROW) amongst others who are set to invest as much as $5 billion in the IPO. Rivian is planning a NASDAQ listing and has reserved the ticker symbol ‘RIVN’ with which to trade as soon as next week.

The $54.6 billion valuation at the debut will position Rivian amongst the crop of electric automakers that are already in the game. The company will be placed at par with competitors including Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ: LCID) and Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) with a market capitalization of $59.13 billion and $66.92 billion respectively. Away from startups, legacy automobile companies including Ford Motors Company (NYSE: F), which is also an investor in Rivian, will only be slightly more valuable than the firm.

The Unique Products of Amazon-backed Rivian

The Amazon-backed company, Rivian focuses its EV production on trucks, SUVs, and the cross-over segments respectively. The company started from scratch, according to the statement from the firm’s founder, and Chief Executive Officer Robert J. Scaringe, and it is notably working to help solve the climate change disparity through its environmentally-friendly vehicles.

“As we redefined our strategy, we focused on how to maximize impact. We began thinking about the truck, SUV, and crossover segments as they presented a massive opportunity for us to demonstrate how a clean sheet, technology-focused vehicle could eliminate long accepted compromises,” Scaringe said in a statement. “We wanted to establish our brand by delivering a combination of efficiency, on-road performance, off-road capability, functional utility, and product refinement that simply didn’t exist in the market. Our first vehicles would need to establish Rivian as the brand for active lifestyles and ensure the brand could transcend segments, form factors, use cases, culture, and geographies.”

Rivian has a long-term partnership to supply Amazon with commercial last-mile delivery vans which it hopes to put as many as 10,000 on the road by 2022. According to CNBC, the firm is also arguably ahead of big names like Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) with its flagship electric pickup van, RT1. Rivian affirmed in its filing that it has delivered a total of 156 RT1 vehicles by the end of October with a total of 1,000 on track to be delivered by the end of the year.

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Amazon-Backed EV Startup Rivian Seeks $54.6B Valuation in IPO