Lotus Expertise, a division of Lotus liable for growth of electrical autos, is about to go public by way of a SPAC deal.

Additionally known as a reverse merger, a SPAC deal is the place a non-public firm goes public by being taken over by an organization that is already listed, usually one arrange solely for this goal, recognized in investor circles as a particular goal acquisition firm (SPAC). The benefit is that it avoids the complexity of the extra conventional preliminary public providing which has extra regulatory oversight.

In an announcement on Tuesday, Lotus Expertise mentioned it has entered right into a reverse merger with the NASDAQ-listed SPAC firm L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp. The deal is predicted to be accomplished on Thursday, after which the mixed firm, to be often called Lotus Expertise Inc., will begin buying and selling on the Nasdaq below the ticker image “LOT.”

Lotus Expertise is predicated in Wuhan, China, and was liable for the Lotus Eletre electrical SUV and the just lately revealed Lotus Emeya electrical hatchback. It is also creating an electrical compact crossover.

Lotus Eletre

Lotus Expertise is headed by Feng Qingfeng, who will stay CEO of the merged firm after the deal closes. Nearly all of the merged firm may also be owned by Lotus Expertise’s current shareholders which embrace Zhejiang Geely, Etika Automotive, and Nio Capital. Etika is a Malaysian provider which along with Geely are the first shareholders of Lotus Expertise’s Lotus mum or dad. Nio Capital is an funding agency based by William Li, the CEO of rival EV agency Nio.

Because the unique announcement of the SPAC deal a 12 months in the past, greater than $880 million has been raised in pre-closing and personal funding in public fairness financing, Lotus Expertise mentioned. The corporate has beforehand mentioned it plans to make use of any raised funds for car growth and increasing the gross sales community.