Rivian Shares Gain On Reports Of Conditional Settlement With Tesla, $6.6 Bln Loan Approval

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(RTTNews) - Rivian Automotive Inc.'s shares gained around 13 percent on Monday's regular trading after reports emerged that the all-electric automaker has reached a conditional settlement with EV major Tesla Inc., regarding its four-year old lawsuit.

The shares were gaining 7% further in the pre-market activity on the Nasdaq, despite a slight drop in previous day's extended trading, after Rivian announced a conditional commitment for a loan of up to $6.6 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy, to support the construction of its next EV facility in Georgia.

Tesla had filed the lawsuit in 2020 accusing Rivian of theft of electric-vehicle trade secrets, mainly battery technology, by hiring former Tesla employees.

As per the latest reports, Tesla informed a California state judge that it plans to dismiss the case by December 24, if the settlement terms are fulfilled. Meanwhile, the details of the agreement are yet to be revealed.

Tesla, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, had alleged that Rivian was engaged in recruiting former Tesla employees, asking them to bring documents related to proprietary technology.

In the lawsuit, Tesla had listed two of its former recruiters, an Environmental Health and Safety manager and a charging networks manager. Tesla alleged then that these employees, when they joined the rival, took crucial information related to sensitive trade secrets, confidential materials and proprietary information with them.

The lawsuit was expanded in 2021, accusing Rivian of targeting core technology related to its next-generation batteries.

However, the allegations were denied by Rivian.

Regarding its committed loan, Rivian said the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing or ATVM Loan Program is providing up to $6.6 billion loan.

The loan would support the construction of Rivian's next facility in Stanton Springs North, near the city of Social Circle, Georgia.

The committed loan, which includes $6 billion of principal and around $600 million of capitalized interest, aims to help accelerate the firm's growth and leadership of electric vehicle design, development and manufacturing in the United States.

If finalized, the loan would substantially expand the company's domestic production capacity to support demand from the United States and international markets.

The loan from DOE would provide significant funding for production of the company's midsize platform, which underpins the R2, a midsize SUV, and the R3/R3X, a midsize crossover.

Rivian intends to build the facility in two phases, each resulting in 200,000 units of annual production capacity, for a total of 400,000 units of annual capacity-supporting the sale of American EVs in international markets.

Phase 1 of the project is expected to start production in 2028. Rivian is expected to create around 7,500 operations jobs through 2030 at the future manufacturing facility in Georgia.

Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said, "This loan would enable Rivian to more aggressively scale our U.S. manufacturing footprint for our competitively priced R2 and R3 vehicles that emphasize both capability and affordability. A robust ecosystem of U.S. companies developing and manufacturing EVs is critical for the U.S. to maintain its long-term leadership in transportation."

On the Nasdaq, Rivian shares closed Monday's regular trading at $11.60, up 13.28 percent. In pre-market activity, the shares were gaining 6.6 percent further to $12.36.