Electric Last Mile, Inc. and Forum Merger III Corporation (Nasdaq: FIII, FIIIU, FIIIW) (“Forum”), on June 25 completed the companies’ previously announced business combination, according to a press release.
Forum stockholders approved the business combination on June 24. The merger has resulted in Electric Last Mile Solutions, Inc. (ELMS), a pure-play commercial electric vehicle company, becoming a publicly traded company and its common stock and warrants are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbols “ELMS” and “ELMSW”, respectively, on June 28.
ELMS on Dec. 11, 2020 announced an agreement with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Forum Merger III Corporation (Nasdaq: FIII) for a business combination that would result in ELMS becoming publicly traded.
James Taylor, co-founder and CEO of ELMS, said in the release, “Today is a critical milestone for ELMS as we now believe we have all the pieces in place to execute on our business plan and transform productivity for the last mile. We are taking advantage of our anticipated first-mover opportunities in the commercial EV space with the launch of our Urban Delivery later this year and to help make the U.S. the world leader for EV manufacturing.”
“This transaction comes at a promising time for both ELMS and the commercial EV industry,” said David Boris, co-CEO and chief financial officer of Forum, in a statement. “With the capital provided by this transaction, we believe James and his experienced management team at ELMS can generate rapid growth and produce shareholder value as an industry-leading commercial EV solutions company.”
The ELMS Urban Delivery, anticipated to launch later this year, is expected to be the first Class 1 commercial electric vehicle available in the U.S. market and will be produced at the company’s facility in Mishawaka, Ind. The Urban Delivery is anticipated to have a range of about 150 miles and is also expected to come with a suite of connectivity and productivity solutions, including over-the-air updates. As part of its integrated business model, ELMS also plans to offer upfitting solutions to customize the Urban Delivery to fleets’ individual end-use cases.
ELMS also recently announced plans to reveal a working prototype of its second vehicle, the Urban Utility, an all-electric medium duty cab forward truck, later this summer.
Jefferies LLC served as financial advisor and White & Case LLP served as legal advisor to Forum. Cowen Inc., Wedbush Securities Inc., Colliers Securities LLC, BTIG, LLC and The Benchmark Company, LLC served as co-advisors to Forum. Foley & Lardner LLP served as legal advisor to Electric Last Mile, Inc.
