General Motors may be looking to gain a bigger share in Nikola Corporation as it continues to negotiate a deal with the electric vehicle company.
GM entered a tentative agreement with Nikola in September to exchange an 11% stake in the start-up for access to its electric and hydrogen vehicle technology. GM also agreed to engineer and build the new Nikola Badger electric pickup truck on behalf of the company, with Nikola only responsible for the marketing and sales for the truck.
Nikola’s stock is now worth less than half of what it was in early September, prompting GM to seek a bigger stake in the company in exchange for its in-kind services, Bloomberg reports. The Detroit-based automaker could also be seeking an authorization that would guarantee a certain level of ownership in Nikola or increase its existing stake if it were to raise more money from outside investors, the publication said.
Trevor Milton
Nikola shares fell sharply after a short-seller report accused the company of misleading investors by lying about or exaggerating the capabilities of its electric vehicle technology. The company eventually admitted to staging a video that showed its Nikola One semi-truck moving under its own power, with company founder Trevor Milton resigning shortly after. Milton has since had two formal sexual assault complaints filed against him, though the billionaire has denied the accusations.
Despite the controversy surrounding the company, GM has said that it still wants to go through with the deal. Bosch, another key Nikola partner, has also decided to stick with the company, with a spokesperson telling Reuters last month that it remains “in close contact with the company and its management,” as they continue to work together.
Nikola Badger
Nikola postponed a December event called “Nikola World” this week, in which it planned to debut the first real-world Nikola Badger prototype. The company blamed COVID-19 concerns for the change, though the recent controversy surrounding the company likely played a major factor as well.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM business partnership news, GM business news and ongoing GM news coverage.
Comments
As I predicted GM will basically steal the name Nikola eventually for nothing.
Nikola has no other choice in my opinion.
Side note…have you guys heard that Nikola has been trying to get the clips of their Semi rolling down hill off media sites?
There’s a lot of Stock holders that cannot cash out until December per their contracts and are trying anything they can for the stock to not crash and burn prior to that date!!!
a lot of con men are getting their comeuppance today. love it.
Mololos
Sorry, I already gave all my money to Little Orphan Annie. She predicted the sun will come out Tomorrow.
I have been calling Nikola a Ponzi scheme for longer than I can remember Lol
GM is about to gain itself a new division that can share with Hummer and GMC since General Motors was looking to get back into the big rig business anyway. Industrial sales are more insulated from economic ups and downs.
Cadillac is doomed, Ruess says this is the brand’s last chance so maybe Nicola can somehow fill a luxury void, too, even though Lucid and it’s Air concept seem a better fit.
We are entering a depression. GM should grab distressed brands for pennies while increasing scale.
I predicted this months ago!
You knew months ago that GM was going to not only take a stake in Nikola, but also increase it?
All I knew was that Trevor Milton was on Autoline After Hours back in June making outrageous claims. Totally unbelievable stuff like producing all the hydrogen the trucks would need on site at the stations, with clean energy.
Pretty obviously a fraud, but here we are.
Yes, I have been following this closely. GM was behind Ford on electric truck. Nickola did all the design work and GM will buy it for pennies on the dollar.
So, what you’re saying is, you don’t know anything about the auto industry.
Quite the opposite, I am a consultant to GM and have helped them with numerous decisions in the past regarding electric vehicles.
Well everything in your last post is complete nonsense.
On the other hand, maybe you are why they made the deal with Nikola, lol.
Wha? Nikola will use GM’s fuel cell, GM’s battery, GM’s manufacturing. If badger ever gets built it will be GM’s everything except the damn badge.
What design work? The Badger was never more than renders. Under the proposed deal, GM was doing all the engineering. GM will be supplying the drivetrain, batteries, fuel cells, eveeything really.
GM should buy out Nikola completely.
There are other companies involved: Bosch and CNH-I.
I read sometimes that at least Bosch had part of the Nikola stock.
They haven’t bought them at all, but were paid with stock to manufacture for them.
And no, they shouldn’t buy them. Why pay money for Nikola that has nothing to offer?
Nikola must have something or these companies would not stick around. Probably just some patents and prototypes.