Amazon disclosure reveals 20% stake in Rivian as IPO approaches

Amazon.com owns a 20% stake in electric powered-vehicle maker Rivian, the startup with which it has positioned an get for a hundred,000 battery-run shipping vans, the e-commerce large disclosed Friday in a securities submitting.

As of Sept. 30, Amazon held fairness investments “including most well-liked inventory of Rivian Automotive, Inc. representing an approximately 20% possession desire,” which will be valued on the balance sheet at $three.eight billion — up from $two.7 billion at the finish of 2020, Amazon reported in the submitting.

Amazon shares pared losses of a lot more than 5% just after the disclosure of its expense in Rivian to trade down two.eight% to $three,347.27 as of at twelve:41 p.m. in New York. The inventory has obtained just two.eight% in 2021, trailing the S&P five hundred Index considerably.

Rivian is found as a authentic contender in the EV industry and possible rival to incumbent Tesla. The startup’s elevated a lot more than $ten.5 billion from traders to date and is searching for a valuation of $80 billion in an IPO later this yr, Bloomberg noted in August. 

Rivian reported in a submitting past week that it could publish a quarterly reduction of as a great deal as $one.28 billion as it ramps up output on its debut EV, a battery-electric powered pickup referred to as R1T. The Irvine, California-based corporation experienced disclosed in a different submitting earlier this yr that Amazon experienced invested a lot more than $one.three billion in the automaker and held almost a hundred and fifty million shares of most well-liked inventory.

Amazon’s voting electrical power as a percentage was redacted. A representative for Rivian declined to remark.

Ties That Bind

Peter Krawiec, a senior vice president of around the world company and business enterprise improvement at Amazon, is on Rivian’s board. The Seattle-based company’s get for electric powered shipping vans extends via the finish of the 10 years, with the very first ten,000 models thanks ahead of the finish of next yr. The get is a cornerstone of Amazon’s bold program to suppress its mounting greenhouse fuel emissions.

Limited output of Rivian’s debut pickup started in August and purchaser deliveries started past month. The startup has encountered several delays it has blamed on Covid-induced source-chain issues. Rivian has pushed back again output of its second client design, a sporting activities-utility vehicle referred to as the R1S. 

It’s also prioritizing manpower and resources for output of Amazon’s van about its retail client-focused products, Bloomberg noted past month.

All three autos — the truck, van and SUV — will be constructed at Rivian’s plant in Standard, Illinois. The corporation is in talks to commit $5 billion for a second manufacturing unit in Fort Really worth, Texas, Bloomberg noted in August. It’s also examining alternatives for a plant in Europe that could also create Amazon vans, Bloomberg noted in January.

Other traders in the EV maker consist of Ford, which has invested a lot more than $820 million in Rivian and retains a stake greater than 5%. Ford lately vacated its Rivian board seat.

For Amazon, the guess on Rivian represents a single of its most significant investments, in dollar phrases, in an additional corporation. The e-retailer’s company improvement group has place income into startups performing on voice technology connected to the Alexa digital assistant. Other investments attribute organizations that are its suppliers or companions. The roster includes investments — or warrants to buy inventory in — food distributor SpartanNash and air cargo operator Air Transport Services Group Inc.

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