Polestar goes public via SPAC merger with Gores Guggenheim

On Friday, electric vehicle manufacturer Polestar went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, and began trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker “PSNY.”

Shares of the EV maker started trading Friday at $12.98, up 15.5% from the SPAC’s Thursday final closing price.

Polestar plans to utilize the nearly $850 million raised from the deal to support its three-year plan to produce new vehicles and eventually turn a profit, according to CEO Thomas Ingenlath.

“We go public as an operating and successful business — not to raise capital to build a business,” Ingenlath told CNBC. “It’s because the next three years will be super-fast growth, the company is geared up for that with the product portfolio.”  

Investors haven’t benefited much from most SPAC transactions with electric vehicle startups so far. Lucid Group, Fisker, and Nikola are now trading at levels that are below their post-merger highs. Rivian, a manufacturer of EV trucks that went public through a conventional IPO, has also struggled. Shares are now down 84% post-IPO. 

However, Polestar may have several advantages over its rivals. Volvo Cars still controls a significant stake in the business, and Polestar already has more than 55,000 vehicles on the road in China, Europe, and the United States.

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