Lordstown finalizes SPAC deal, starts trading on NASDAQ

Lordstown Motors has completed its business combination with DiamondPeak Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). For those of you who haven’t been following the EV “stock market frenzy,” a merger with a SPAC is the currently fashionable way for a startup company to go public—it’s quicker and involves less paperwork than the traditional IPO.

Lordstown Motors’ Class A shares will now trade on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol RIDE.

Lordstown unveiled the prototype of its Endurance pickup truck in June 2020, and it remains on pace to begin production in the second half of 2021. The Endurance, which is aimed at the commercial fleet market, uses an innovative in-wheel hub motor design.

In 2019, General Motors sold its former auto plant in Lordstown, Ohio to the startup automaker, which grew out of the Workhorse Group, an EV builder that’s been around since 1998. The compelling story of a shuttered plant resurrected by the growing clean energy economy has attracted a lot of positive press coverage.

GM is naturally happy to see some of its former employees find new positions. “GM is excited about the progress Lordstown Motors is making, because we believe they will help create more good-paying jobs in Ohio and especially in the Lordstown community,” said a company spokesperson. GM and LG Chem have announced plans to invest up to $2.3 billion in a battery cell assembly plant in the area that some are now calling Voltage Valley.

“We have a near production-ready plant and approximately $675 million in proceeds from this transaction, which is more than enough funding to get us through initial production,” said Lordstown founder and CEO Steve Burns. “We look forward to combining our EV startup culture with the infrastructure and assets we already have in place in order to successfully achieve our production milestones.”