Polestar has had a rocky start to the year, with rumors that parent company Volvo was ready to back out of its role as a majority stakeholder. This week, however, the company’s CEO has illuminated how a new shareholder structure with Volvo and fellow stakeholder Geely will work, just as multiple of the automaker’s new electric vehicles (EVs) start hitting auto markets.
In February, Volvo signaled that it was considering giving up its shares of Polestar to Geely, just weeks ahead of the Polestar 3 entering production in China.
On Monday, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath detailed a little bit about the EV maker’s new shareholder structure in a post on LinkedIn, saying that Geely Sweden Holding will officially become the company’s second-largest shareholder.
Meanwhile, Ingenlath explains, Volvo will retain an 18 percent stake in Polestar, down from around 48 percent, as the company begins trading convertible shares distributed internally at Volvo.
Polestar 3 prices get reduced before it’s even available with demand in question
“This strengthens and clarifies our ownership structure within the Geely ecosystem, as well as providing us with a wider shareholder base and increased free float, something we have aimed for since our NASDAQ listing in 2022,” Ingenlath writes.
As for his optimism about the EV maker’s future, he also points to Polestar securing $950 million in external funding from a group of international banks, as well as the company’s latest vehicles to enter the market. Ingenlath also notes that the Polestar 2 has become widely available across multiple markets, adding that the automaker is expecting to reach final prototype development for its Polestar 5, a four-seat grand-tourer, later this year.
The restructuring also comes after Polestar cut roughly 15 percent of its global workforce at the end of January, and after the automaker’s Polestar 4 faced a swift recall in China late last month.
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