Exhibit 99.4
The following article from The Guardian was retweeted by Arrival’s Twitter account (@arrival) on November 18, 2020
UK electric vehicle maker Arrival to list on Nasdaq amid surging demand
Banbury-based firm to start mass production of electric buses and vans
Jasper Jolly
Wed 18 Nov 2020 10.45 EST Last modified on Wed 18 Nov 2020 13.16 EST
An Arrival bus and van. The manufacturer will raise $660m as it prepares for mass production of its first electric bus within a year, followed by its electric van by early 2022. Photograph: Arrival
Arrival, the UK-based electric van and bus startup, is to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, in a deal that is expected to value the company at more than £4bn.
The manufacturer, based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, will raise $660m (£498m) in cash as it prepares for mass production of its first electric bus within a year, followed by its electric van by early 2022.
The fundraising will be carried out via a merger with CIIG Merger Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) run by Peter Cuneo, a former chief executive of the Marvel comics company. SPACs are also known as “blank cheque” companies as they are set up by investors specifically to find and buy another business.
Arrival has exploded on to the global automotive scene in the last two years – after previously running in secret – with a plan to use smaller, cheaper “microfactories” to produce electric vehicles using robots, instead of the production line model, pioneered by Henry Ford, to mass-produce cars.
Arrival, which now employs about 1,300 people mainly in the UK and the US, claims its van will be about the same price as comparable fossil fuel vans on the market, which cost about £35,000, and substantially cheaper than its electric van rivals. Vans will be 17% cheaper than diesel vans over their lifespan, a key factor for companies managing vehicle fleets, while total bus costs could halve, Arrival claims.
The listing announcement came on the same day that the UK government announced a ban on sales of cars with internal combustion engines after 2030 and hybrids after 2035, underlining the opportunity for promising electric vehicle manufacturers.
Avinash Rugoobur, Arrival’s chief strategy officer, said “we’re at an inflection point”, when the transition to electric vehicles will accelerate rapidly.
Rugoobur said Arrival would be generating cash by 2023, and would then add new microfactories at a rate of up to four a year.