Rivian targeting reported US$70 billion valuation in IPO

American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive could be going public by the end of 2021.

According to Bloomberg, the Californian-based EV outfit has chosen underwriters for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and could be seeking an eye-watering US$70billion (AU$90.5billion) valuation if/when it does go public.

The automaker has reportedly consulted with several US financial institutions in the lead-up to the IPO, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Morgan Stanley.

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The 2022 Rivian R1T

Rivian made headlines in 2019 when American multi-national tech behemoth Amazon placed an order for 100,000 examples of its electric vans, which are scheduled for delivery in 2022.

At the beginning of 2021, the EV firm announced it had secured US$2.65 billion of investment from Amazon, T. Rowe Price Group, and Fidelity Investments, and was valued at US$27.6bn (AU$35.7bn).

A decent amount of the rumoured US$70bn valuation rests on Rivian’s ability to deliver its first passenger electric vehicle, the R1T pick-up truck.

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The R1T was due to begin deliveries in June, however, the automaker has since pushed back that timeframe to July without providing an explanation.

If Rivian does make a move to the stock exchange, it will join a growing list of EV automakers in the US that have gone public in an effort to raise capital, including Tesla and more recently, Lucid.