Hydrogen truck firm Hyzon to go public through SPAC
Fuel-cell truck firm Hyzon Motors has agreed to go public through a merger with blank-check firm Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp in a deal that values the startup at $2.7bn.
It is the latest electric vehicle company which has chosen mergers with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) as the route to go public instead of traditional initial public offerings.
SPACs, which have seen a surge in popularity in the last few months, are shell companies that raise funds through a listing to take a private company public.
Fellow EV firms EVgo Services and Faraday Future have already said they will go public using this method this year.
Decarbonization Plus will put $400m into the Hyzon deal from funds and accounts managed by Blackrock and private investment firm Riverstone Energy.
The transaction is expected to result in total gross proceeds of about $626m, Hyzon said.
George Gu, chairman and co-founder of Hyzon remarked, “This business combination will enable us to expand deployments of our zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell powered heavy vehicles globally, and to continue leading the hydrogen transition.
“We are incredibly excited about the dynamic mobility category as municipalities and Fortune 100 companies are rapidly embracing hydrogen as the essential pathway to a net-zero economy.
“The number of countries cementing and then enhancing their national hydrogen strategies expands almost weekly, and we are extremely encouraged by both investor and public interest in the hydrogen economy.”
New York-based Hyzon was set up last year amid a boom in interest in the sector.
The company makes hydrogen fuel-cell powered trucks, a sector that has seen increased interest after the listing of Nikola last year.
Hyzon’s technology powered more than 400 vehicles in 2019. The company expanded into Europe last year with a facility in the Netherlands.