Sons And Daughters Of BBCMF [BIRTH OF SPAC BLANK CHECK ENTITIES]

[mick]

LiveWire, the electric motorcycle company spun out of Harley-Davidson, is going public by merging with a special acquisition company, or SPAC. The transaction will net LiveWire approximately $545 million at a pro forma enterprise value of approximately $1.77 billion, Harley-Davidson says in its announcement. LiveWire is the latest electric vehicle company to go public by merging with a SPAC, which are also known as “blank check” companies.

LiveWire is merging with AEA-Bridges Impact Corp. (ABIC), a SPAC formed by John Garcia and Michele Giddens, two private equity executives based in New York and London, respectively. Garcia and Giddens teamed up last year with the express purpose of merging with a business that is working toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, according to Reuters.

Unusually, there’s a third partner in the deal: Kymco, the Taiwan-based scooter manufacturer. Harley-Davidson describes Kymco as a “strategic partner” that will help manufacture and distribute LiveWire’s electric motorcycle.