German electric car maker e.Go to go public through Athena SPAC

The combined company will have an enterprise value of almost $ 1 billion

The merger with the company with a blank check occurred after a sharp drop in SPAC

Next.e.GO Mobile SE, a German maker of compact electric vehicles, is going public through a merger with a blank check firm to create a $913 million company, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

The deal will provide e.GO with about $285 million in revenue, provided investors don't buy back their shares, the people said, asking not to be named when discussing private information. That includes $235 million from Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp. and $50 million in debt, the people said.

Proceeds from the deal with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, will be used to fund operations and growth, the people said. Construction of e.GO's second production facility, located in Southeastern Europe, is expected to begin this year, they added.

Representatives for e.GO and Athena Consumer declined to comment.

The deal followed a two-year boom and bust for SPAC. Once a little-known means to make a company public without some of the hurdles of a traditional initial public offering, listings worldwide for companies with blank checks have grown more than fivefold to $84 billion in 2020 and nearly doubled from last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Only $15 billion has been raised this year.

Mergers of these SPAs have also plummeted, from a total of $115 billion last year to $15 billion since Jan. 1, data showed.

The structure of SPAC transactions also changed after investors suffered losses from private placements at the IPO price, usually $10 per share. The e.GO transaction has no PIPE, relying instead on debt to help fund it.

The only e.GO model on the road is the e.wave.x, a four-seater city car similar to the Smart from Mercedes-Benz Group AG. e.wave.x costs at least €24,990 ($25,490), while smart, which is smaller, sells for €18,370. e.GO, based in Aachen, Germany, has delivered more than 1,000 vehicles. 

Athena Consumer, founded by venture capitalist Isabelle Friedheim, raised $230 million in its IPO in October, saying it plans to invest in businesses offering consumer goods and/or services using technology.

The combined company is expected to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EGOX, the people said.