Rivian files for IPO, seeks about $80B valuation
Rivian Automotive Inc., the maker of electric pickups backed by Amazon. com Inc., has filed for an initial public offering and is seeking a roughly $80 billion valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Irvine, California-based startup said in a statement Friday that it submitted its S-1 registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company would like to do an IPO around the Nov. 25 Thanksgiving holiday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the filing was confidential. The timing will depend on approval from the SEC.
Should Rivian go public at an $80 billion market capitalization, it would be one of the biggest debuts on that basis this year. With $10.5 billion raised from backers including
Amazon and Ford Motor Co., an established factory in Illinois and thousands of reservation holders for its R1T truck and R1S sport utility vehicle, Rivian is among the most serious competitors lining up to take on electric-vehicle leader Tesla Inc.
While the company has a who’s-who list of backers, it has yet to delivery any vehicles to retail customers and has encountered multiple setbacks starting production. The COVID19
pandemic has brought about supply-chain disruptions and parts shortages that have forced Chief Executive Officer R.J. Scaringe to postpone its model launches several times.
Even so, the company has grand plans. It’s scouting locations for a European manufacturing site, Bloomberg News reported in February, and is in talks with the city of Fort Worth, Texas, about investing at least $5 billion in a second U.S. assembly plant.