Mullen secures funding for ELMS acquisition
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California-based electric vehicle manufacturer Mullen Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: MULN) has secured $150 million in funding it says will be used in part to close on its acquisition of Electric Last Mile Solutions in Michigan. Mullen announced Friday it is now in position to purchase the assets of ELMS, which includes a vacant manufacturing plant in Mishawaka.
Last month, Mullen received court approval to acquire the ELMS assets out of bankruptcy in a $240 million cash deal.
As part of the deal, Mullen will also acquire all of ELMS’ intellectual property, inventory, and equipment, machinery and supplies.
“We expect to close quickly on the ELMS transaction,” Mullen CEO David Michery said in written remarks. “This will accelerate market introduction of our cargo van program and provide us with critical manufacturing capacity at a much lower investment than previously expected to supply the rest of our product portfolio.”
ELMS filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in June, less than a year after going public. The company had planned to restart the 650,000-square-foot plant in order to produce electric delivery vehicles.
Mullen plans to use the facility to produce and launch the Mullen FIVE, an electric crossover vehicle, as well as an electric SUV and pickup truck.
Production of the Mullen FIVE is being moved from Mississippi to Mishawaka and expected to begin in 2024. Mullen says it anticipates producing 50,000 vehicles annually.