Hydrogen truck claimed to have been developed by Nicolas
Hanwha decided to sell half of its stake in Nikola, a hydrogen company in the US, which had been engulfed in the’fraud controversy’. Hanwha plans to invest in the hydrogen business with funds secured through the sale of shares, while maintaining the cooperative relationship with Nikola.
Nikola announced on the 17th (local time) that Hanwha plans to sell 10.05 million shares, 50% of its holdings. The equity value is equivalent to $181.1 million (approximately 203.5 billion won) based on the closing price ($16.39) on the day. Earlier in 2018, Hanwha Energy and Hanwha General Chemical invested 100 million dollars to secure a 6.13% stake in Nikola.
Hanwha also acknowledged the plan to sell its stake. An official from Hanwha said, “We plan to sell part of the stake after June,” and said, “The scale of the sale may vary depending on the market situation.” Hanwha plans to maintain its strategic alliance with Nikola. This is because half of the holdings remain after the sale of the stake. “Hanwha remains an important strategic partner and is playing an active role in the Nikola Board of Directors,” said Nikola.
The US Bloomberg News analyzed that the sale of Hanwha was based on a’spoof of fraud’ triggered by a short selling report last year. In September of last year, Hindenberg, a short seller investor and research organization, revealed that “Nicola is an elaborate hoax based on dozens of lies.” It was pointed out that the truck video presented for IR (company briefing session) was also manipulated.
As the controversy grew, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Justice Department decided to investigate Nikola. After ten days of revelation, Nicolas founder and chairman Trevor Milton also resigned. As the suspicion of fraud continued, global companies withdrew from alliances one after another.
After General Motors (GM) of the United States withdrew its plan to jointly develop a pickup truck with Nikola in November last year and gave up its share acquisition, Germany’s major parts maker Bosch also reduced its stake in Nikola from 6.4% to 4.9%. Earlier, Bosch entered into a strategic alliance in 2017 to support Nikola’s hydrogen fuel cell technology development.
Founder of Trevor Milton Nicolas
Founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 2015, Nicolas is a startup that develops hydrogen trucks and electric battery trucks capable of driving 1920 km on a single charge. Even though there is no factory, it was called the’hydrogen truck Tesla’. In recognition of its value in the market, it succeeded in attracting large amounts of investment from Hanwha and Bosch. In 2018, it is reported that Kim Dong-gwan, CEO of Hanwha Solutions, who was then managing director of Hanwha Q Cells, met with the founder of Milton and invested a stake.
Nikola was listed on the NASDAQ in June of last year and traded at $33.75 on the first day, and recorded the highest closing price of $79.73 in four days. However, it plunged to $17.88 in September last year when suspicion of fraud arose. On the 17th (local time), Nikola’s share price is $16.39.
Reporter Kang Kyung-min [email protected]
Ⓒ Hankyung.com prohibits unauthorized reproduction and redistribution