Iveco to assume ownership of Nikola JV

The Nikola Tre fuel cell electric truck. (Photo: Nikola)

Iveco Group N.V. and Nikola Corp. have entered a new phase of the partnership that started in 2019. The companies said the work has so far met all of their milestones to deploy zero-emission heavy-duty Class 8 trucks in North America and Europe, launching battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) for regional and long haulage.

Each company is reportedly eager to sharpen its own focus on heavy-duty transport. Iveco Group will concentrate on Europe for the further development and commercialisation of its own battery electric and fuel cell electric trucks, which includes rolling out its financing business model Gate, and Nikola will focus its operations in North America, with an integrated approach to its customers, offering BEV, FCEV and hydrogen infrastructure via its Hyla brand.

Iveco Group will assume full ownership of the joint venture in Ulm, Germany. Also, Iveco Group will be licensed to freely access and continue developing vehicle control software for the jointly developed BEV and FCEV.

Nikola will be granted the IVECO S-Way technology license for North America and related component supply from Iveco Group, and will gain joint ownership of the intellectual property of Generation 1 eAxles, technology developed together with Iveco Group’s powertrain brand, FPT Industrial.

Iveco Group will cover the capital outlay related to this new phase of collaboration through its available liquidity, acquiring the above-named items partially in cash (US $35 million) and partially in Nikola shares (20 million of shares). Despite the negative cash impact generated, Iveco Group said it forecasts to absorb it with cash flow generation and therefore it will not change its cash flow target for 2023; it will also retain a meaningful amount of Nikola shares. Iveco Group and Nikola will continue to work towards the same ultimate goal: to lead the energy transition to the future of mobility.

The above-mentioned provisions are subject to all applicable regulatory approvals and preparation of definitive agreements to more fully implement the terms of the binding terms sheet between the companies