Lordstown Motors may fail again. In a regulatory filing Monday, the EV firm that went public via a SPAC merger warned investors that Foxconn might back out of a major funding transaction, forcing it to declare bankruptcy.
Foxconn wrote to Lordstown on April 21 that the carmaker breached the investment agreement because its stock price fell below $1 for 30 days and risked delisting from Nasdaq. In addition, Foxconn threatened to cancel the investment agreement if the breach was not remedied within 30 days.
Lordstown said it would protect its rights but cautioned that withholding vital finance would hurt the firm.
According to the SEC filing, Lordstown will not have enough funds to operate without the investment. If no settlement is achieved, Lordstown is considering legal and financial options.
“As a result of these uncertainties, there is substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern,” Lordstown noted in the regulatory filing.
“Our ability to obtain additional financing is extremely limited under current market conditions, particularly for our industry, and also influenced by other factors including the significant amount of capital required, the Foxconn dispute, the fact that the BOM [bill of materials cost] of the Endurance is currently, and expected to continue to be, substantially higher than our selling price, uncertainty surrounding the performance of any vehicle produced by us, meaning
The business will declare bankruptcy if Foxconn doesn’t settle or find alternative finance.
Foxconn invested $170 million in ordinary stock and newly formed preference shares in Lordstown Motors last November. Lordstown invested again a year after Foxconn bought its 6.2-million-square-foot facility. Foxconn helped Lordstown Motors build its Endurance pickup vehicle as part of that $230 million contract, which included a $50 million direct investment.
Last year’s Foxconn-Lordstown Motors joint venture finance was replaced by the November $100 million direct preferred stock investment. The US Committee on Foreign Investment reviewed the tranched investment.