KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: NGA) announces that its proposed business combination partner, The Lion Electric Company (Lion), a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, today announced that the company has received a purchase order from IKEA Canada’s partner, technology-enabled logistics and last mile delivery provider Second Closet, for 15 Lion6 heavy-duty zero-emission trucks. Second Closet will begin integrating zero-emission trucks into its fleet for IKEA home deliveries in several markets across Canada.
The IKEA and Second Closet co-branded five tonne EV trucks that will service last mile deliveries for IKEA locations in Boucherville, QC, Etobicoke, ON, Richmond, BC are scheduled to hit the streets in fall 2021. This will enable IKEA to achieve 20% of its ambitious zero emission delivery goals. The retailer is committed to reaching its 2030 goal to become a circular and climate positive business by reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than the IKEA value chain emits while growing the IKEA business at the same time.
The impacts of the global pandemic are moving consumer purchases online and thereby increasing the demand for home deliveries. It also increases the challenge this poses in terms of pollution, congestion, and noise levels in our cities. In 2020, IKEA Canada completed over 500,000 home deliveries, a 30% increase from 2019.
“Electrifying our last mile delivery service is an important step in our journey to become climate positive by 2030, especially with the rapid acceleration of our online business over the past year,” said Michael Ward, CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Canada. “We are pleased to work with Second Closet and Lion Electric, two great Canadian innovators, to support us in meeting our customers with people and planet in mind.”
IKEA Canada has been named amongst Canada’s greenest employers for more than a decade and remains committed to its leadership in sustainability. Further to its current zero-emission delivery efforts, IKEA Canada has also achieved the unique status of producing four times the energy that the company’s operations and facilities consume, thanks to renewable energy produced by its wind farms and rooftop solar panels. The company widely supports electrification of transportation, providing electric vehicle chargers at all 14 IKEA stores across Canada with a goal of halving relative emissions from employees and customers by 2030.
“Lion is delighted to have been chosen as a key partner in IKEA Canada’s incredibly ambitious goal of decarbonizing home delivery by 2025. We believe this will be the first deployment of all-electric delivery trucks at scale in Canada, serving as an example for what’s possible with electrified fleets today and setting up IKEA Canada and Second Closet for larger deployments in the near future,” said Marc Bedard, CEO and Founder of Lion.
All of Lion’s vehicles are purpose-built for electric propulsion from the ground up, and are manufactured at Lion’s North American facility, which has a current capacity to produce approximately 2,500 electric trucks per year. Over the last decade, Lion has established itself as a leader in the all-electric heavy-duty vehicle industry, having delivered over 300 all-electric heavy-duty vehicles in North America with over 6 million miles driven since 2016.
About Lion Electric
Lion Electric is an innovative manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles. The company creates, designs and manufactures all-electric class 5 to class 8 commercial urban trucks and all-electric buses and minibuses for the school, paratransit and mass transit segments. Lion is a North American leader in electric transportation and designs, builds and assembles all its vehicles’ components, including chassis, battery packs, truck cabins and bus bodies.
Always actively seeking new and reliable technologies, Lion vehicles have unique features that are specifically adapted to its users and their everyday needs. Lion believes that transitioning to all-electric vehicles will lead to major improvements in our society, environment and overall quality of life.
About Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp.
Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: NGA) is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, stock exchange, acquisition, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Northern Genesis management team brings a unique entrepreneurial owner-operator mindset and a proven history of creating shareholder value across the sustainable power and energy value chain. Northern Genesis is committed to helping the next great public company find its path to success; a path which will most certainly recognize the growing sensitivity of customers, employees and investors to alignment with the principles underlying sustainability.
Transaction with Northern Genesis
On November 30, 2020, Lion announced that it had entered into a business combination agreement and plan of reorganization pursuant to which, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lion will merge with Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: NGA), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company focused on a commitment to sustainability and strong alignment with environmental, social and governance principles. Upon completion of the transaction, Lion is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the new ticker symbol “LEV”.
Important Information and Where to Find It
In connection with the proposed business combination, Lion Electric filed a registration statement on Form F-4 with the SEC that was declared effective on March 24, 2021 (the “Registration Statement”), which includes a proxy statement of Northern Genesis and a prospectus of Lion Electric. The Registration Statement has been declared effective by the SEC and the definitive proxy statement/prospectus has been mailed out to Northern Genesis’ stockholders. Investors and security holders of Northern Genesis and other interested parties are urged to read the Registration Statement and the definitive proxy statement/prospectus (the “Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus”), any amendments to the foregoing, and any other documents filed with the SEC, when available, because they will contain important information about Lion Electric, Northern Genesis and the proposed business combination. Investors and security holders of Northern Genesis may obtain free copies of the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by Northern Genesis and Lion Electric through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp., 4801 Main Street, Suite 1000, Kansas City, MO 64112 or (816) 514-0324. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, the websites referenced in this press release is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.
Participants in the Solicitation
Northern Genesis and its directors and executive officers and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitations of proxies from Northern Genesis’ stockholders in respect of the proposed business combination. Lion Electric and its officers and directors may also be deemed participants in such solicitation. Information regarding Northern Genesis’ directors and executive officers is available under the heading “Director and Executive Officers” in its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 9, 2021 (the “IPO Prospectus”). Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, which may, in some cases, be different than those of their stockholders generally, are contained in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and will be contained in other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed business combination when they become available. Stockholders, potential investors and other interested persons should read the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus carefully before making any voting or investment decisions. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.
No Offer or Solicitation
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval. No offer of securities, other than with respect to the concurrent private placement of Lion shares as described in the Registration Statement, shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” (which shall include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws) within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “plan,” “project,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “target” or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the transaction, including with respect to timing and closing thereof and the ability to consummate the transaction. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Lion Electric’s and Northern Genesis’ management and are not predictions of actual performance. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Lion Electric and Northern Genesis, and are based on a number of assumptions, as well as other factors that Lion Electric and Northern Genesis believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances, but there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct or that the Lion Electric’s vision, business, objectives, plans and strategies will be achieved. Many risks and uncertainties could cause Lion Electric’s actual results, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those factors discussed in the Registration Statement and Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, as well as other documents filed or to be filed by Lion Electric or Northern Genesis in accordance with applicable securities laws. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Northern Genesis or Lion Electric, and there may be additional risks that neither Northern Genesis nor Lion Electric presently know or that Northern Genesis and Lion Electric currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Northern Genesis’ and Lion Electric’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. Northern Genesis and Lion Electric anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause their respective assessments to change. However, while Northern Genesis and Lion Electric may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Northern Genesis and Lion Electric have no intention and undertake no obligation to do so except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Northern Genesis’ and Lion Electric’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
