Harley-Davidson’s e-bike subsidiary Livewire is set to go public in the US and be listed on NASDAQ via SPAC, with leading Taiwanese motorcycle manufacturer Kymco providing a cash infusion of US$100 million as a shareholder.
After being spun off from Harley-Davidson two years ago, LiveWire has been fully focused on e-bike development. LiveWire recently announced a merger with AEA-Bridges Impact to be publicly traded on the NYSE with the stock ticker LVW.
"This transaction will give LiveWire the freedom to fund new product development and accelerate its go-to-market model," said Jochen Zeitz, Harley-Davidson CEO. "LiveWire will be able to operate as an agile and innovative public company while benefiting from the at-scale manufacturing and distribution capabilities of its strategic partners."
By “strategic partners”, Zeitz was indeed including Taiwan-based Kymco.
During the public listing, Kymco and Harley-Davidson each injected US$100 million of funding as part of a capital increase. Going forward, Harley-Davidson will hold a 74% share in LiveWire, while Kymco and the prior shell corporation ABIC will hold 4% shares each.
LiveWire’s announcement made no mention of whether the company will adopt Kymco’s Ionex in the future, though LiveWire did emphasize that it will leverage Kymco’s manufacturing technology, global logistics system, and supply chain.
This will be the second US-listed e-bike company in which a Taiwanese party participates. Kymco will hold a press conference on December 16 to explain the partnership further.
(Image: LiveWire)