Bankrupt EV Startup Arrival Sells Assets to Canoo

The bankrupt commercial electric vehicle (EV) startup Arrival has sold some of its assets, including advanced manufacturing equipment, to Canoo, another struggling startup in the EV space. Canoo’s acquisition of these assets, which was framed as a cost-saving measure to reduce capital expenditures by 20%, is aimed at aiding Canoo’s efforts to progress from prototype development to commercial production of electric vehicles.

Canoo announced that the purchased assets, packed into over 20 container ships, will be transported to its facility in Oklahoma. This acquisition follows Canoo’s previous purchase of all new and “like-new” assets owned by Arrival’s business unit in the United States. However, it remains unclear whether Canoo also acquired any of Arrival’s intellectual property (IP).

Arrival, once valued at over $13 billion and backed by notable investors like Hyundai and UPS, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.K. in January. The company had ambitious plans to revolutionize EV production with compact “microfactories” located in city centers but faced financial challenges and executive turnover. Despite its promising vision, Arrival never achieved significant production scale, and its market valuation has plummeted to around $7.7 million.

Canoo, which went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, has encountered its own obstacles. Although it reported over $1 billion in its sales pipeline, including a large deal with Walmart, converting these sales into deliveries has been challenging. Canoo has faced cash burn issues and resorted to measures like stock splits and issuing more shares to sustain operations. Last year, it faced a delisting notice from the Nasdaq Exchange due to its stock price falling below $1.