Tesla Motors, the electric car maker with the Abu Dhabi connection, is going public in a move to keep up with its major competitors. The Californian company behind the plug-in Roadster plans to launch the first initial public offering (IPO) by a US car maker in more than 50 years, and hopes to raise about US$100 million (Dh367.3m).
After acclaim from industry experts for the Roadster sports car, major companies such as General Motors, Toyota and Ford have started to catch up by developing their own electric vehicles. Tesla has not had much success keeping up with demand for its cars, so going public will be seen as crucial in its bid to hold its own against the increasing competition. Ben Holmes, the founder of the research website Morningnotes.com, said an IPO was sometimes the best form of advertising for companies such as Tesla, especially if the deal was successful.
"Venture-backed deals were kind of derailed, and this might be what we call a bell cow - a deal that's so steady and so well done and so impressive it brings other deals to market that were waiting," Mr Holmes said. Abu Dhabi Government entities have spent about $86m to fund Tesla, it was revealed when the company, based in Silicon Valley, filed its prospectus for an IPO on Friday. Abu Dhabi controls almost 14 per cent of the company.
The prospectus said Blackstar Investco, an investment vehicle managed by Daimler, owns about 10 per cent of Tesla. In July, Aabar Investments, the Abu Dhabi company, bought 40 per cent of Blackstar from Daimler. It owns a 3.64 per cent stake in Tesla worth $23m. Al Wahada Capital Investment, part of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), bought a 10.29 per cent stake of Tesla for $63m in August.
Electric ambitions, b10 Ahmed Saif al Darmaki, the planning and development director of ADWEA, is also listed as being a director of Tesla since September. . He and other representatives from ADWEA could not be reached for comment. Tesla plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to pay for factories and equipment, which it estimates will cost as much as $125m. The company said it might also use the cash to fund acquisitions.
It is the first IPO of a US car maker since Ford went public in 1956. Tesla did not disclose in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission how many shares it plans to sell, or at what price range. Tesla lost $31.5m in the nine months ending on September 30 last year, down from $57.3m in the same period in 2008. The company said it did not expect to make a profit until 2012, when it was to begin producing Model S saloon cars.
"Turns out it's much more expensive to start a car company than it is to do anything in Silicon Valley," said Eric Noble, the president of Car Lab, an industry consulting firm in California. "The Model S as conceived is a $1 billion programme. That's a tough amount to come up with for a company that's shown nothing but losses so far." Last week, Tesla was awarded a $465m low-interest loan from the US government and a $528m loan from the US department of energy.
* with agencies @Email:dgeorgecosh@thenational.ae
