Battery Swapping Giant Gogoro Plans to Go Public Through SPAC Merger
Gogoro is the world’s largest battery swapping company, and with its recent SPAC merger deal, the company hopes to expand on its network.
Sept. 16 2021, Published 2:52 p.m. ET
Electric vehicles are ushering in a new way of traveling on the road compared to traditional gas-fueled vehicles. They provide a cleaner way to drive. Many EV models are more cost-efficient than gas models. However, not everyone can afford to purchase an electric car, truck, or SUV because some models are expensive. And besides the cost, there are people who don’t need a four-wheel vehicle. There are better off with something small like a bicycle or scooter.
The problem with most motorized bicycles is that they are gas-fueled and don’t help with carbon emissions either. Non-motorized bicycles and scooters can be great but when you don’t want to put in the physical work, electric scooters might be the perfect fit. Electric scooters have become increasingly popular on their own, whether it be for tourism, going to work, or running errands.
We’ve seen EV companies including Rivian, Lightning eMotors, Lucid Motors, and Proterra announce their plans to go public this year. These companies tend to deal with four-wheel electric vehicles or larger and not electric scooters. Gogoro is one company that not only manufactures electric scooters, but also has the largest battery-swapping network in the world. On Sept. 16, the company announced that it will go public through a SPAC merger with blank-check company Poema Global Holdings.
What is Gogoro and what does it sell?
Gogoro is a scooter manufacturer that also provides reusable battery swapping throughout Taiwan. The company offers three different subscription plans for swapping batteries. You can pick up a battery at one of the company's signature GoStations, which it claims uses less space than a parking spot. The stations are weather and tamper-proof and are monitored 24 hours a day.
Using cloud-based software, the vehicles' status and performance are monitored. Other brands like Smartscooter and Eeyo have EV models that are compatible with Gogoro’s battery swap network. With most of its business in Taiwan, Gogoro plans to expand in India and Mainland China, along with more countries in the future. Gogoro received investments from companies including Panasonic and HTC. The electric battery company was founded in 2011 by two former HTC executives, Horace Luke and Matt Taylor.
Gogoro will go public in 2022 with a $2.35 billion SPAC deal.
On Sept. 16, Gogoro announced its SPAC merger deal with Poema Global, which will have Gogoro valued at more than $2.3 billion. The deal is expected to raise a reported amount of approximately $550 million. Over $250 million will come from a PIPE funding round and another $345 million is held in trust by Poema Global. The EV company expects the deal to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. The stock will be listed on the Nasdaq with the ticker "GGR."
One of the contributors to the SPAC deal is the electronic manufacturing company Foxconn. Foxconn is one of the biggest electronic and component suppliers around the world. The company has supplied various components to Apple for years. Gogoro announced in June that it has a partnership with Foxconn. Gogoro wants to expand its scooters and battery swapping services to other cities around the world.
