Benzinga | Aug 3, 2020 01:47PM EDT

Electric Pickup Maker Lordstown Motors Going Public In Reverse Merger

Electric pickup truck startup Lordstown Motors Corp. (LMC) is going public through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), the latest clean transportation company to take a fast-track to public trading.

Former Workhorse Group Inc (NASDAQ:WKHS) CEO Steve Burns created LMC in 2019 with the purchase of a former General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) plant in northeast Ohio. GM is investing $75 million in LMC, including a mortgage loan to LMC and money for retooling the plant.

DiamondPeak Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:DPHC) is committing a total of $675 million from its 2019 initial public offering and private investment in public equity (PIPE) to fund the production of LMC's Endurance electric pickup truck.

A SPAC is created specifically to target a company for a friendly merger. DiamondPeak said it evaluated hundreds of companies before choosing LMC. The PIPE, which allows early investors to buy stock in DiamonPeak at a discount, is projected to raise $500 million, LMC said in a release Monday.

The combined company will remain listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol RIDE.

This is a developing story. Come back to FreightWaves for updates.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Alan Adler.