Arrival Group
Owners:
UPS (United Parcel Service)
Sverdlov Denis Lvovich - 76,4%
Winter Capital Partners (WCP)
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation
Owners
Main Article: Electric Vehicles (Global Market)
Performance indicators
2019
From the Arrival documents it follows that in 2019 the company did not have revenue, and net losses exceeded $48 million against $30.2 million a year earlier. The losses are largely due to rising product development costs as well as taxation.
History
2024
Bankruptcy
At the end of June 2024, it became known that the Luxembourg court declared bankrupt the developer of electric vehicles Arrival, founded by the former head of Scartel and ex-Deputy Yota of Communications Denis Sverdlov. The company found itself in a difficult financial situation, which is why it was unable to establish the production of vehicles.
Documents previously sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) say that the British division of Arrival is part of the administration. Under local law, this means bankruptcy. The company announced its intention to sell its UK assets and intellectual property in order to pay off creditors who helped it continue to operate amid a lack of funds. According to the Financial Times, more than 170 Arrival jobs were at risk in Britain.
As part of the bankruptcy, Arrival was forced to sell some assets of its US division, including production equipment for the production of electric vehicles. The buyer was another startup in the field of electric vehicles - Canoo. Arrival equipment in 20 cargo containers went to the Canoo facility in Oklahoma. At the same time, it is not specified whether the intellectual property of the bankrupt company entered the perimeter of the transaction.
Arrival operated two sites in Oxfordshire, southern England. Consulting firm EY has been appointed administrator during the bankruptcy process. It is said that the startup's problems are due to "difficult market and macroeconomic conditions that did not allow electric vehicles to be brought to the market as soon as possible." Various options for selling the business are being explored, including electric vehicle platforms, software and research and development assets.[1]
Delisting with NASDAQ
On January 29, 2024, Arrival announced that it had received a notice from the Nasdaq exchange to stop trading in the company's shares on the site. Information about delisting brought down 15% of the rate of quotations of the British developer of electric vehicles.
According to Reuters, citing a letter sent by Nasdaq to Arrival, the company's shares will stop trading on the American exchange from January 30, 2024. Earlier, Arrival received a notification from Nasdaq about the possible delisting of shares for non-compliance with the rules of presence on the stock exchange - the company delayed the interim financial statements and did not hold the annual meeting of shareholders, the newspaper recalls.
In addition, Arrival received a notice from the trustee of its $320 million bond loan. It was issued in 2021 with a maturity of 2026 and a yield of 3.5% per annum. The company admitted to its inability to pay coupon income on these bonds. Arrival had another 30 days to resolve this issue, but even after this period interest was not paid. In this regard, the fact of non-fulfillment of the company's obligations was recorded and the trustee demanded accelerated payments on bonds.
As noted by TechCrunch, Arrival planned to produce electric cargo vehicles for UPS, Uber and other corporations, but was never able to show a serial sample of the car. At its peak, Arrival's capitalization was $13 billion. At the time of the notification of delisting from Nasdaq, the British company was worth about $20 million.
In January 2024, British broadcaster Sky News reported that Arrival had brought in a new team of consultants to plan a so-called stress scenario. According to the publication, this step brings the company closer to bankruptcy.[2]
2022
Denis Sverdlov leaves Arrival Group
On November 24, 2022, it became known that Denis Sverdlov, the former Deputy Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation, decided to leave the post of general director of the startup Arrival, which he founded, specializing in the creation of electric vehicles. Read more here.
Denis Sverdlov decided to sell 10% of Arrival amid the threat of bankruptcy of the company
On November 22, 2022, it became known that the investment firm of Denis Sverdlov, the founder of the British startup Arrival, will sell up to 40 million shares of this company, a developer of electric cars. The reason is the catastrophic lack of funds, provoked by a number of reasons, including difficulties in organizing the production of vehicles. The company is threatened with bankruptcy.
Sverdlov, 44, Russia's former deputy communications minister, has invested approximately $450 million in Arrival. It was assumed that the enterprise for the production of electric vehicles in 2024 will provide revenue in the amount of $14.1 billion.
When Arrival carried out the initial share issue (IPO) procedure, the company was valued at $13.6 billion, and the fortune of Denis Sverdlov himself was valued at $11 billion. However, due to rising costs, a difficult macroeconomic situation and delays in the production of electric vehicles, Arrival's financial situation has seriously deteriorated. In the third quarter of fiscal 2022, the startup's losses reached $310.3 million against $30.6 million a year earlier. The fortune of Mr. Sverdlov, according to estimates, decreased to $195 million, although back in April 2022 he was a dollar billionaire.
Kinetik, Denis Sverdlov's investment firm, in July 2022 announced its intention to sell up to 20 million Arrival shares as part of a pre-prepared plan. But in early November 2022, it was decided to double sales to 40 million shares, which is about 10% of Mr. Sverdlov's share. The Arrival founder himself is now looking for new sources of funding, intending to focus on the US market, where support for electric transport is growing . Arrival will be downsized for additional cost savings.[3]
A delisting warning from Nasdaq in case the company's stock does not rise above $1
In November 2022, the British electric car manufacturer Arrival, former Deputy Minister of Communications Denis Sverdlov, received a warning from Nasdaq about delisting: the company's shares have been trading below $1 for more than a month.
Arrival must now fix this and raise the share price by May 1, 2023.
Arrival has faced a whole "string of setbacks," the FT has learned. Employees have fallen morale, investors are unhappy, and there are problems in production. For example, the company's electric van caught fire right during the demonstration.
Investors sue Arrival over cheating charges
As it became known in August 2022, American investors sued Arrival, accusing the company of deception. Despite promises, the British electric car developer never started mass production of the vehicles, the class action initiators said.
According to CNews, in addition to Arrival itself, the defendants are members of the board of directors and leaders of the company, including its founder, ex-Deputy Minister of Communications of Russia Denis Sverdlov, former financial director Tim Holbrow, general director of the Arrival car division Michael Ableson (Michael Ableson) and President Avinash Rugoobur (Avinash Rugoobur). In addition, the defendants include underwriters UBS Securities, Barclays Capital and Cowen & Company, which organized Arrival to go public.
The plaintiffs allege that Arrival made unrealistic promises and misled investors. In particular, the company did not warn investors about the increase in its losses, about the need to raise additional capital, about the inability to become profitable, about the inability to comply with the schedule for launching products into production and achieve the declared financial indicators.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order Arrival to compensate investors and establish its size. The company disagrees with the allegations and intends to defend its case in court.
By August 2022, Arrival had never started producing electric vehicles, so the company has neither revenue nor even more profit. This situation negatively affects the value of Arrival shares: by August 24, 2022, the company's quotation rate is $1.23, while on the first day of trading on the Nasdaq exchange on March 25, 2021, the figure exceeded $21. In the second quarter of 2022, Arrival's losses reached $89.2 million.[4]
Refusal to create an electric bus and an electric car to launch an electric van
In August 2022, Arrival suspended the creation of an electric bus and an electric car. The company wants to cut costs by a third and focus on making an electric van to start generating revenue. With the same savings target, Arrival announced in July that it would cut 30% of staff.
Cutting 800 employees out of 2,700
In July 2022, Denis Sverdlov's Arrival startup is cutting 800 employees, writes The Times. Employees of the British division will be fired. Arrival was one of the leaders of the electric car revolution in Britain.
A British company with Russian roots has developed zero-emission vans for UPS express delivery service, electric buses for FirstGroup and electric taxi for Uber. Now the company employs a total of 2,700 people.
Moving employees from Russia to Georgia
In mid-May 2022, it became known about the decision of Arrival to cease activities in Russia. The company, which was founded by the ex-head of the telecommunications operator Yota and former Deputy Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation Denis Sverdlov, began the relocation of employees from Russia.
We have already transported almost our entire team to Georgia and organized jobs in Tbilisi, "Tom Elvidge, a spokesman for Arrival, told the Financial Times.
According to him, Arrival does not plan to conduct "any operations in Russia in the future." When asked if the company fears Western sanctions due to the fact that its founder and head worked in the Russian government until 2013, Elvidge said that both Arrival itself and Denis Sverdlov personally "oppose what is happening [in Ukraine; Russian special operation] and any conflicts. "
As Tom Elvidge clarified, Arrival began to withdraw its activities outside Russia since the military conflict began in Ukraine. Arrival has a Russian team that handles the software, a company spokesman said . At the same time, Elvidge did not name the number of employees in the Russian Federation. By the beginning of 2022, the company had about 2 thousand employees.
By May 2022, Arrival is headquartered in Britain, and startups also have offices in, USA,,, and Germany Netherlands. Israel Luxembourg
A key development of Arrival is an intelligent platform for modular assembly of next-generation electric vehicles, which can be quickly deployed anywhere in the world on demand. Vans, buses, as well as small passenger cars can be assembled on it in various modes. The assembly management process in this platform can be changed within a few hours.[5]
2021
Capitalization $8.7 billion
The salary of the general director of Arrival is £600 thousand per year
In August 2021, the well-known annual salaries of Arrival executives, including the founder and CEO Denis Sverdlov, became. The latter, in accordance with the employment contract signed on September 14, 2020, receives from the company £600 thousand per year. Read more here.
Going public on Nasdaq
On March 25, 2021, Arrival entered the Nasdaq exchange (ticker - ARVL), making the largest IPO in the history of British companies. The listing occurred through a merger with the American CIIG Merger Corp, a special technical company (SPAC).
According to the results of the first day of trading on the Nasdaq exchange, Arrival shares fell 4.5% to $21.01. During trading, the fall reached 13%, and the rate of quotations - $19.21.
At the time of placement of securities, Arrival's market capitalization amounted to $13.6 billion. The company intends to use the funds raised to increase the supply of vehicles and expand its global microfabrication network.
Going public will allow the company to scale production by offering its product to "more and more cities and people," said Denis Sverdlov, founder and head of Arrival.
 | We believe that soon all cars will be electric, because it is better for people, the planet and business, "he added. |  |
According to Forbes, Denis Sverdlov's fortune after Arrival went public amounted to $9.8 billion. As a result of the listing, the share of the ex-Deputy Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation in the combined company (CIIG Merger Corp plus Arrival) will be about 75%.
The publication notes that Arrival is not the first electric car developer to go public through SPAC (Fisker, Canoo, Lordstown Motors and Nikola conducted the same transactions), but Denis Sverdlov's company has an advantage in terms of share value.
Arrival CFO Tim Holbrow told investors that the company expects revenue of $14 billion by 2024. Tesla with a market capitalization of $600 billion in 2020 registered sales in the amount of $31 billion.[6]
2020
Receiving €50 million investment
At the end of 2020, the volume of investments of the Winter Capital fund (associated with the owner of Interros Vladimir Potanin) in Arrival became known. We are talking about 50 million euros, according to documents that the British electric car manufacturer sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the occasion of the planned IPO.
On October 12, 2020, Arrival completed a private offering of a total of 44,146,679 Class A preferred shares for a strategic investor in Winter Capital as well as funds and brokerage firms managed by BlackRock at €3,40909 apiece. On this deal, Arrival earned a gross income of 150.5 million euros. The company planned to spend these funds on solving "common corporate problems."
The materials for the SEC also say that from the end of 2019 to October 2020, Arrival raised a total of 260 million euros and was valued at about $3 billion. In addition to Winter Capital, Hyundai and KIA (€100 million), BlackRock funds ($118 million) and the American logistics company UPS (€10 million) have invested in the electric car manufacturer.
After merging with CIIG Merger (SPAC - a special technical structure created to simplify the entry of companies into the stock exchange), Arrival will become a public company. The Kinetik fund, the beneficiary of which is Sverdlov, will control the company even after the merger - Arrival's shareholders in the combined company will have 88.1%, of which Kinetik has about 76.4%, and new investors have about 7% (of which Winter Capital has 1.4%).[7]
Attracting investment from Winter Capital Partners
In November 2020, it became known that the Winter Capital Partners fund associated with billionaire Vladimir Potanin was among the investors in Arrival. Such information is contained in a press release that the British manufacturer of electric buses, founded by the former deputy communications of RFDenis Sverdlov, issued on the occasion of the announcement of the upcoming entry into the Nasdaq exchange.
The same report said that, in addition to Winter Capital, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors, logistics company UPS, and a fund managed by investment giant BlackRock invested in Arrival.
Vasily Nikolaev, Managing Director of the Winter Capital Advaisors Foundation, confirmed to Forbes investments in Arrival, but did not disclose the size of investments and the fund's share in the company. Nikolaev noted that interest in Arrival is due to market considerations. According to him, the market for commercial vehicles is huge, and the share of electric vehicles on it is minimal, and the prospects are obvious.
In addition, there are companies in the sector whose valuation is higher, but the startup is ready to compete with them on an equal footing. Thus, Rivian was estimated at eight billion dollars, and the market capitalization of the developer of Nikola electric trucks is $10 billion.
Winter Capital is also an investor, online movie theater IVI site, Banki.ru pharmaceutical company "," Petrovax medical IT platform DocPlanner To Poland in and others.
By the to data Forbes end of November 2020, Arrival employs 1,200 people, and some of the engineers work in. St. Petersburg Of the 20 people of the top management team, 2-3 people worked with Sverdlov in. Yota In addition to coming from, Russia the main people in the company are former employees. These are General Motors Avinash Rugobur, who worked for GM's autonomous transport subsidiary Cruise Automation, and Arrival production manager Mike Ableson, who worked for the American company for more than 20 years.[8][9][10][11]
Opening of headquarters in North America
On December 10, 2020, it became known that Arrival was opening its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. For the British electric car manufacturer, this is the first office in the United States, but the company already has an enterprise there.
Arrival intends to invest about $3 million in the development of its headquarters, which will be located in the South End area of Charlotte. The company is going to raise a staff of 150 new employees, Arrival is interested in attracting specialists in personnel, marketing, finance and administrative issues.
Arrival's North American headquarters will be located less than 30 miles (about 48 kilometers) from its first U.S. microfactory in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The company employs more than 1,200 people, it has five engineering facilities and two microfactories around the world.
A British start-up has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Charlotte authorities to help the city shape a sustainable urban environment, including creating gas stations with 100% zero carbon emissions by 2030.
| | This partnership forms a roadmap for how we develop a regional integrated transportation ecosystem that integrates components such as electric vehicles, charging infrastructure and digital mobility services, "said Arrival Automotive CEO Mike Ablson. | |
Arrival's goal is to produce electric vehicles that are competitive in price with traditional fossil fuel vehicles and lower cost of ownership than other comparable electric vehicles, the press release said. Arrival believes that by developing a modular electric skateboard platform that can be used on various types of vehicles, along with the use of microfabrications created near large cities, it will be able to achieve its goals.
Arrival plans to produce commercial electric vehicles, starting with van and bus models. As Mike Ablson previously stated, it is planned to launch four cars on the market by 2023.[12][13]
Ex-president of Maykor Sergey Sulgin got a job at Arrival
On November 29, 2020, Telegram channel "Non-Digital Economy" reported that former Maykor President Sergei Sulgin got a job at the Arrival project, founded by Denis Sverdlov, who worked as Deputy Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov in 2012-2013. According to the state British register of legal entities Companies House, Sulgin was appointed director of Arrival Solutions in February 2020. It also states that he has Maltese citizenship, and that he is a resident of England. Read more here.
Statement of intention to go public
On November 18, 2020, Arrival announced its upcoming launch on the stock exchange. To do this, the British developer of electric vehicles, founded by the former Deputy Minister of Communications RFDenis Sverdlov, is teaming up with the American CIIG Merger. The new company will be called Arrival Group.
The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2021. The market value of the combined company is expected to be $5.4 billion. This is almost $2 billion more than the assessment that Arrival received from investors following the results of the last funding round by November 19, 2020.
Under the terms of the agreement, which became known to Forbes magazine, Denis Sverdlov will receive 75% of the Arrival Group. When the company is valued at $5.4 billion, its share may cost about $4 billion. This will help the entrepreneur enter the top 30 list of Russian billionaires according to the publication.
| | We will enter positive cash flow in 2023. The amount of funds that we will attract now is enough to support growth until the moment when we become profitable, "Sverdlov said. | |
Arrival intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq exchange using the ticker symbol ARVL. It is assumed that this deal will bring the startup $660 million, including $400 million from private investors.
Arrival decided to go public through a merger with the so-called Special Technology Company (SPAC), which is CIIG Merger. SPAC has no assets, no history of operations, no business plan. Such a company is specially created in order to merge with another company so that the latter becomes public, bypassing the traditional IPO procedure. CIIG Merger is created by the former CEO of Remington (manufacturer of skin and hair care devices) and Marvel (comic book publisher) Peter Cuneo[14]
Denis Sverdlov compared his electric car company to McDonald's
On October 20, 2020, Forbes magazine published excerpts from an interview with former Deputy Minister of Communications Denis Sverdlov, who spoke about the micro-factories created by his electric vehicle company Arrival.
| | The rules of the game set by the big factories are now broken... We [Arrival in comparison with large automakers - approx. TAdviser] approach each element of this process differently - to what materials we use, how we design cars, how we assemble them, "Sverdlov said. | |
According to him, the factories of Ford, Tesla and other auto giants created for billions of dollars turned out to be too expensive and inflexible in the context of a rapidly changing market and the transition to electrified transport.
Arrival's idea is to build micro-factories located near customers who make orders. Expensive stamping presses, painting and welding workshops and assembly lines will not be used there, said Denis Sverdlov.
| | It's almost like a McDonald's model. You get as much as you need under your request... Arrival is not just an electric car company right now. We are a technology company that creates systems that then create cars, "he said. | |
The production scheme, built on the use of small enterprises, allows Arrival to greatly optimize costs and create relatively inexpensive machines. Thus, the company plans to produce electric vans at a price of about $40 thousand, which approximately corresponds to the cost of gasoline or diesel commercial cars. At the same time, other electric vans, as a rule, cost 50% more.
To accomplish this task, Arrival uses lightweight aluminum chassis and body panels made from patented composites. Thanks to this, the economy on batteries is achieved - the main expense item in electric cars.[15]
Raising $118 million in investments
On October 14, 2020, Arrival announced that it had raised $118 million in investments from funds managed by the investment company BlackRock. What time, according to the results of the round of financing, the British developer of electric buses, founded by the former Deputy Minister of Communications Denis Sverdlov, was not reported.
BlackRock joins other strategic investors in Arrival, including Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation and UPS.
Arrival intends to spend the funds received from investors to expand the production of electric cars, including the launch of a small enterprise in South Carolina - the first microfabrication for the company. It is expected that this plant will begin operation in the second quarter of 2021, and production will be launched in October-December of the same year.
Arrival claims that the company's fast-scalable microfactories are low-cost and can be deployed anywhere in the world. Combined with its own components for electric cars and software, this reduces production costs and carbon footprint during transportation, it said.
According to its own data, Arrival microfactories produce 10,000 vans or a thousand buses a year. The company is going to spend $46 million on events to enter the American market. It is assumed that at the enterprise in South Carolina, the company will be able to produce up to 1 thousand electric buses per year and provide 240 people with work.
| | This additional capital will be invested in the development of Arrival, as we deepen and expand our presence in the United States and in other new markets around the world, - said Denis Sverdlov, whose words are quoted in a press release. In a conversation with RBC, Sverdlov said that new investments will go to the development of microfabrications.[16] | |
New deal with UPS
In January 2020, the UPS postal service signed a contract for the purchase of 10 thousand Arrival electric trucks.
Receiving €100 million in investments from Hyundai and Kia, the company's valuation is €3 billion
In mid-January 2020, South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia announced an investment of 100 million euros in Arrival. As a result of this financing deal, the British developer of electric vans, founded by the ex-head of the telecommunications operator YotaDenis Sverdlov, was estimated at 3 billion euros.
Denis Sverdlov called Arrival products "second generation electric vehicles" and said that the investment attracted by Hyundai and Kia will allow the company to make global expansion.
In turn, Hyundai and Kia, thanks to the cooperation they have begun, intend to offer competitive electric compact and medium-sized commercial vehicles for logistics companies, passenger transportation companies, as well as providing vehicles on demand. The Arrival platform can be adapted to the different types and categories of vehicles that Arrival, Hyundai and Kia plan to use to develop a number of PBVs (special vehicles).
It is noted that Arrival technologies will help South Korean automakers achieve the goals set in Hyundai Motor's strategy until 2025 (involves the sale of 670 thousand electric vehicles annually, the top three manufacturers of electric vehicles by 2025, and more).
In addition, the Arrival deal allows Hyundai to accelerate its strategy of supplying battery electric and hydrogen fuel cells to the European commercial vehicle market.
By mid-January 2020, Arrival has manufacturing facilities and research centers in the United States, Germany, Singapore, Russia and Britain. The company plans to build "micro-factories" near major cities such as Los Angeles and New York, and hopes that they will immediately make a profit when producing only a few thousand cars a year.[17]
2019: Appointment of ex-Deputy Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation Alexei Kozyrev as General Director of one of the Russian representative offices
From February to September 2019, the former Deputy Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation Alexei Kozyrev worked as the general director of Erraival Distribution Platforms.
2018
Establishment of representative offices in Russia
In June 2018, Erraival Management Systems was registered in Moscow, and in September - Erraival Distribution Platforms. Both companies, according to the type of activity, plan to develop software and information technology.
The owner of both companies is Dmitry Bulantsev, an ex-employee of Otkritie Bank and JI Mani Bank.
UPS Contract
In 2018, one of the largest American logistics operators UPS purchased Arrival electric trucks for experimental use in London and Paris.
2017: The company is renamed Arrival. Contract with Royal Mail
In 2017, the company changed its name from Charge R&D to Arrival and contracted to supply its electric trucks to Royal Mail, the UK postal service.
2015: UK registration of Charge R&D
The creators of Charge R&D (since 2017 Arrival), according to the British register of legal entities, were the former Deputy Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation Denis Sverdlov (from March 6 to June 5, 2015 he held the position of CEO) and Glen Saint, ex-technical director of Optare, a bus production company.
The company's office was located in the Whiteways Technical Center, the base center of the Lotus F1 team, located in the county of Oxfordshire in southern England.
The Kinetik venture fund, created by Denis Sverdlov, mentioned Charge R&D on its website as one of the investment projects.
2014: Erraival Software is registered in St. Petersburg
Erraival Software was registered in St. Petersburg in August 2014. It was headed by Sergey Malygin.
Stock price dynamics
| Ticker company on the exchange: | NASDAQ:ARVL |
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