General Motors sold its stake in EV startup Lordstown Motors during the fourth quarter of 2021 following an undisclosed lock-up period, the automaker confirmed.
GM owned less than 5% of Lordstown, namely 7.5 million shares of common stock with an initial equity value of $75 million, including in-kind contributions and $25 million in cash.
GM spokesperson Jim Cain told the Detroit Free Press that GM did not submit a regulatory filing at the time of the sale because "it wasn't material." Cain declined to disclose the exact timing of the open-market sale or how much money GM made from it.
"We were a small investor in the company. Our objective in investing was to allow them to complete the purchase of the plant and restart production."
The Detroit automaker had invested as part of the sale of an Ohio plant to the electric vehicle startup as well as a SPAC deal that took Lordstown public in October 2020.
GM's share sale is somewhat expected as the automaker's involvement in the EV startup was a goodwill gesture to assist in getting the Lordstown Assembly plant to build cars again after the automaker ended production there in 2019.
It's not the first time GM dumps stock in an EV startup, with the move reminding of the time GM sold its participation in Nikola Motor in late 2020.
GM's disclosure comes after Lordstown announced plans to build and sell up to only 3,000 vehicles through 2023, including 500 in 2022. Both numbers are far below the 32,000 units former management promised investors before the public listing. The company reported a loss of $81.2 million for the fourth quarter.
Lordstown recently started manufacturing pre-production prototypes of the Endurance all-electric pickup, its first vehicle. The company plans to begin customer deliveries in the third quarter of 2022.
Late last year, Lordstown agreed to a deal with Taiwan's Foxconn to purchase the plant for $230 million. The arrangement will see the iPhone maker handle production of the Endurance pickup.
The Foxconn agreement is still being finalized, Lordstown execs said on February 28, adding that they're also in negotiations for the two companies to co-develop vehicles in the future based on Foxconn's MIH platform.
According to Lordstown CEO Dan Ninivaggi, the Foxconn deal is a "critical step in unlocking the full potential of the Lordstown facility," bringing multiple benefits to the company.
