Report: Lordstown Motors nears deal
Company to sell plant o Taiwan’s Foxconn
Lordstown Motors Corp., the electric truck maker running low on cash, is near an agreement to sell its highly politicized Ohio factory to Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg reported Thursday morning.
The companies are set to announce the pact as soon as this week, said the people, who asked not to be named as the plan isn’t yet public.
Lordstown Motors owns the massive former General Motors plant in Trumbull County. The GM plant, which dates back to the 1960s, was once a key employer in the Mahoning Valley region, with thousands of workers there at its peak.
Bloomberg reported the sale will bring in much-needed funds and potentially help Lordstown Motors realize the benefits of large-scale manufacturing faster by building multiple models in the same facility along with Foxconn. For the biggest assembler of Apple Inc.’s iphone, the plant would establish the company’s auto manufacturing footprint in the U.S. as it pushes into electric vehicles, Bloomberg reported.
Selling the facility and operating in parallel with Foxconn could help the company better leverage the facility,
ing long-term value creation for our shareholders,” Craig Rogerson, Hexion’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.
Rogerson will remain the top executive at Hexion after the split, and shareholders of Hexion will own the new company as well.
Hexion will file a registration statement for a proposed initial public offering with shares to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
“With our recent strong performance, and after a comprehensive evaluation of strategic actions aimed at unlocking the value of our businesses, our board and management team have determined that now is the right time to pursue a separation through an (initial public offering) and spinoff,” he said.
Hexion said the move will give the newly created company a greater ability to grow in attractive global markets.
Senior management of the operations being spun off are based in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Stafford, Texas, will serve as the company’s primary U.S. office and the company also will keep an executive office in Shanghai, China.
The new company will have epoxy plants in the United States, Germany, Spain and South Korea. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams