Tesla Motors, a US-based maker of electric vehicles backed by some of the world’s biggest car makers, is preparing to raise just more than $200m in its flotation after revealing its offer price in a regulatory filing.
The company will issue 10 million shares in its initial public offering (see link for SEC filing) on the Nasdaq stock exchange with its existing shareholders to place a further 1.1 million. The shares will be priced at between $14 and $16 each and there is a ‘greenshoe’ option to sell an extra 565,000 shares from the company and 1.1 million from shareholders if the offer is oversubscribed from the underwriting banks: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank.
The company’s market capitalisation would be $1.4bn based off its pricing at its mid point of $15 per share, and having 92.1m shares in issuance after the IPO and if the ‘greenshoe’ is exercised.
Germany-based car maker Daimler owns 5.7% of Tesla before the IPO. Daimler’s proportion will fall to 4.9% if all shares are offered in the flotation.
Daimler owns its shares through the Blackstar Investco vehicle. Daimler owns 60% and Abu Dhabi state-backed Aabar Investments 40% of the Blackstar limited liability company, which holds 9.56% of Tesla pre-IPO.
The United Arab Emirates state also owns a further 9.3% of Tesla through its Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (via the Al Wahada Capital Investment subsidiary).
Tesla has raised more than $220m in venture funding since launch, according to news privder PEHub.com,including from independent venture capital firms VantagePoint Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
Loss-making Tesla made slightly less money, $20.6m, in the first three months of the year compared to the $20.9m in revenues in the first quarter of 2009. It plans to bring out a sedan version of its electric car in 2012 to complement its existing sports car model, the Roadster.
Tesla has sold 1,063 Roadster cars by the end of the first quarter since its launch in 2008 and expects to sell 20,000 of its model S sedan after 2012.
Daimler has agreed to buy up to 1,500 of Tesla’s battery packs and chargers to support a trial of its Smart Fortwo electric vehicle in at least five European cities while Toyota will help produce the model S after a deal agreed last month. As part of the production agreement, Toyota will buy 3.3 million shares worth $50m in Tesla.
Tesla operates a different business model from its US peers by owning the 12 stores in its North America and Europe-based sales and service network rather than franchising the customer-facing part of its operation.