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Harley’s electric motorcycle division to go public via $1.7 billion SPAC deal

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from https://www.cnbc.com/ Key Points : Harley-Davidson’s electric-motorcycle division will go public through a merger with a blank-check firm in a deal valued at $1.77 billion, the company said on Monday. The company launched LiveWire earlier this year, hoping to claw back lost market share as its core baby boomer customer base grows older and interest in motorcycling as a recreational activity fades. Harley-Davidson will retain a 74% stake in the company, which is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “LVW.” Harley-Davidson’s electric-motorcycle division will go public through a merger with a blank-check firm in a deal valued at $1.77 billion, the company said on Monday, as the 118-year old brand bets on younger customers to boost volumes. The company launched LiveWire earlier this year, hoping to claw back lost market share as its core baby boomer customer base grows older and interest in motorcycling as a recreational activity fades. A broader awareness about climate change is also paving the way for automakers to lean towards greener vehicles. Valuations have gained as money managers are also increasingly factoring in ESG policies in their investments. Harley is the latest to cash in on an uptick in valuations of electric-vehicle makers. Last month, Amazon-backed EV maker Rivian shot past $100 billion in valuation in its market debut, surpassing Ford and General Motors. “If anything this underlines what we’ve been saying for a long time. Detroit, wake up! The train has left the station! EVs are inevitable,” Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin said. “Many traditional OEMs (Original equipment manufacturers) with emerging EV businesses can obviously do similar spinoff transactions,” Irwin added. Harley’s shares rose 11.3% in premarket trading, while those of AEA-Bridges were up 3.4%. Jochen Zeitz, Harley’s chief executive, will be the chairman of LiveWire for up […]

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Harley-Davidson’s stock falls after KeyBanc turns bearish, citing competition from Polaris’s Challenger bike

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Shares of Harley-Davidson Inc. HOG, -1.22% fell 0.7% in morning trading Monday, after KeyBanc Capital analyst Brett Andress turned bearish on the motorcycle maker, citing concerns over competition from Polaris Inc.’s PII, +1.85% Indian brand of bikes. Andress cut his rating on Harley’s stock to underweight, after being at sector weight since August 2017, and set his price target at $33, which is 15.5% below current levels. “Indian’s new Challenger bike is aimed squarely at [Harley’s] dominant Road Glide ([about] 80% share of 32K-unit market),” Andress wrote in a note to clients. “Indian introduced the Challenger bike on Oct. 29 to immediate fanfare and, on paper, the bike surpasses its competition in almost every important metric (primarily a new liquid-cooled engine), a setup we view as likely to disrupt a rather complacent status quo.” Polaris’s stock rose 0.9% in morning trading. Andress estimates the new competition could drive an earnings-per-share headwind of about 25 cents. Harley’s stock has rallied 14.5% year to date, while Polaris shares have surged 30.4% and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.37% has gained 23.0%.

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Harley Davidson: The Road Only Goes Downhill

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Harley-Davidson delays its first $30,000 electric motorcycle after unexpected findings during final quality checks The company delayed the motorcycle after ‘non-standard conditions’ were discvoered during final quality checks Dealers had begun selling pre-orders of the bike in January Harley-Davidson had forecast shipping 1,600 bikes Harley-Davidson has delayed production on its first electric motorcycle, called LiveWire. In an email sent to dealers last week, the company announced it had found a ‘non-standard condition’ in its final quality checks but didn’t elaborate further. The LiveWire was officially announced for commercial release last fall with a planned price of $29,799. ‘We recently discovered a non-standard condition during a final quality check; stopped production and deliveries; and began additional testing and analysis, which is progressing well,’ the company said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal reported that the decision came after a problem with the vehicle’s battery charging was discovered. The manufacturer did not say when they planned to resume production. The company had already begun delivering models of LiveWire to dealers in September. The company had expected to ship around 1,600 bikes, or an estimated 1 percent of the company’s total big shipments. The LiveWire is said to go from 0-60 mph in three seconds and reach top speeds of 110 mph. Harley-Davidson recommends users go to dealers to charge the vehicle rather than trying to use standard electrical outlets in their homes. It is powered by a 15.5 kWh battery and has a 105 horsepower magnetic engine and a range of 146 miles city driving on a single charge. Harley-Davidson had told potential customers to charge the bike only at registered dealers and not in their homes. The bike was first shown in The Avengers: Age of Ultron as a sleek prototype ridden by Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow character. The LiveWire

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