UK Electric Vehicle Maker Arrival Raises $118M From BlackRock As It Gears For US Factory Launch

BlackRock, Inc BLK has invested $118 million in the United Kingdom-based electric vehicle startup Arrival, which will enable the automaker to open a manufacturing facility in the United States, the latter said in a statement on Wednesday.

What Happened: The investment puts the valuation of the London-based EV company at approximately $3.53 billion, the Financial Times reported.

Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company HYMTF and Kia Motors Corporation earlier invested nearly $117.49 million alongside BlackRock in the company in January.

Arrival said it builds microfactories to help place smaller production facilities close to its buyers. The company has research sites in the U.K. at Reading and Banbury and a Microfactory at Bicester, FT noted. 

Why It Matters: The EV firm is building a microfactory at Rock Hill, South Carolina that can manufacture 1,000 battery-powered buses each year, Forbes reported.

Arrival will reportedly invest $46 million in the microfactory, which would employ 240 workers and begin operations late next year.

United Parcel Service, Inc UPS, which is also an investor in the startup, has placed an order of up to 10,000 electric vans with Arrival worth an estimated $500 million, as per Forbes.

UPS has an option to buy another 10,000 vehicles on top of its order, FT reported.

Arrival CEO Denis Sverdlov told FT that the market for EVs is predicted to reach 8 million commercial and passenger fleets by 2030 in the United States.

EV maker Rivian has already secured an order for 100,000 electric vans from Amazon.com, Inc AMZN. The Jeff Bezos-led retail giant invested $700 million in the Michigan-based startup in February. 

Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc’s TSLA foray into heavy vehicles seems to be nearer as well as a Tesla Semi was spotted delivering vehicles to customers at the end of last month.

Price Action: BlackRock shares closed 0.14% higher at $639.85 on Wednesday.

Photo courtesy: Arrival