Tesla rival Rivian aims for IPO this year

Electric-vehicle startup Rivian, which is backed by Amazon.com Inc and Ford Motor Co, is looking to go public as soon as September at a valuation of about $50bn (roughly R736,072,500,000) or more, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

Rivian has been in talks with bankers about its plans but the company's timeline for an initial public offering isn't final and a listing could happen later in the year or next year, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company declined to comment.

Rivian, which aims to put an electric pickup and SUV in production this year, announced last month a $2.65bn (roughly R39,011,312,500) investment round led by T. Rowe Price. The startup has said it has raised $8bn (roughly R117,770,000,000) since the start of 2019.

The company's deliveries of pickups would start in June and those of SUVs in August. Launch editions of the vehicles are priced at $75,000 (roughly R1,104,054) and $77,500 (roughly R1,140,855) , respectively, with a 480km driving range for both.

In 2019, Amazon ordered 100,000 electric vans from Rivian. The first Amazon vehicles go into production at Rivian's factory in Normal, Illinois in late 2021, with all deliveries to be completed by 2024.

Rivian plans to follow those products with smaller models targeted at China and Europe, founder and CEO RJ Scaringe told Reuters in November.