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Rivian launches IPO, priced at $78 a share

THE PANTAGRAPH 54 min ago

NORMAL — Rivian Automotive's initial public offering launched Wednesday at $78 a share, and the company is hoping to raise $12 billion, surpassing Uber's $8 billion IPO in 2019. The move marks one of the most highly anticipated stock market debuts of 2021.

Trading is on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol "RIVN." The offering is expected to close on Monday and values Rivian at $66.5 billion. By comparison, Honda is valued at $53 billion and Ford at $80 billion.

The California company that assembles electric vehicles at the former Mitsubishi plant in Normal filed an initial public offering paperwork in August.

Rivian in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing said a valuation of about $60 billion was sought, at 135 million shares of common stock priced between $57 and $62 per share.

Rivian in a statement Wednesday morning also said the company "set aside 1% of stock for Forever, Rivian’s philanthropic mission dedicated to addressing the planet’s climate crisis and preserving the critical biodiversity needed for our planet’s long-term survival."

The company is building the R1S sport-utility vehicle and R1T truck line, as well as 100,000 custom electric vehicles for Amazon. The R1T starts at $67,500 and the R1S starts at $70,000.

Major backers include Amazon, Ford and T. Rowe Price. About $10.5 billion has been raised from investors since 2019.

Amazon in a recent SEC filing disclosed it owned about a 20% equity stake in Rivian as of Sept. 30.

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