Bankruptcy ‘inevitable’ as Fisker deal talks with big carmaker collapse

Cash-strapped Fisker's talks with a large carmaker for a potential deal have collapsed and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) plans to delist the electric vehicle start-up's shares due to “abnormally low” price levels.

The NYSE has also suspended trading in the stock, it said on Monday, hours after it was halted pending an announcement. Fisker's shares were trading at $0.09 (R1.70) before the halt and closed at $0.13 (R2.46) on Friday.

The termination of talks with the unnamed carmaker has led Fisker to search for strategic options, including in- or out-of-court restructurings and capital markets transactions, the start-up said on Monday.

In the case of a stock delisting, the company will be required to offer to repurchase its unsecured 2.50% convertible notes due in 2026 and it will trigger an event of default under its senior secured convertible notes due in 2025.

“We do not have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” it said.

The news comes a week after the company paused electric-vehicle production, fanning growing uncertainty around its future.

“I can't put it if it is next week or next year, but it is inevitable,” Thomas Hayes, chair at hedge fund Great Hill Capital, said on the growing chances of Fisker likely to file for bankruptcy protection.

A potential bankruptcy will make Fisker the second failed auto start-up from Henrik Fisker, who started his career as an automotive designer and was also a Tesla consultant.

His previous attempt, Fisker Automotive, fell victim to the 2008 financial crisis and filed for bankruptcy in 2013 despite fetching $192m (R3.63bn) in loans from the US department of energy.

Fisker's latest venture was founded in 2016 and went public through a merger with a blank-check firm for a valuation of $2.9bn (R54.86bn).

However, a slew of supply chain issues, production delays and fundraising hurdles sent its market valuation crashing to less than $100m (R1.89bn).

Reuters had earlier this month reported Japanese carmaker Nissan was in advanced talks to invest in the start-up.

Struggle to raise funds

Fisker said earlier on Monday it will be unable to meet a closing condition related to its attempt to raise up to $150m (R2.84bn) by selling convertible notes after missing an interest payment.

The $8.4m (R158.9m) payment for some notes due in 2026 was supposed to be paid on March 15, but the start-up said it did not pay despite having enough liquidity as it wanted to use the 30-day grace period to talk to investors about its capital structure.

Raising funds has been hard for loss-making EV start-ups, which have little by way of revenue as they struggle to ramp up production and deliver to customers amid strong competition and a tough economy.

Separately, Fisker said it would ask investors to vote on a proposal for a reverse stock-split at a shareholder meeting on April 24, as it looked to comply with the NYSE's listing norms.

Fisker's shares have lost more than 90% of their value this year after the start-up flagged going-concern risk in February and paused investments in future projects until it secured a partnership.

It pivoted to a dealer-partner model earlier this year after delivering less than half the vehicles it made in 2023 due to logistics issues.

Fisker has pursued a different strategy from Tesla and other EV start-ups by relying on auto supplier Magna to assemble its vehicles rather than invest the capital to build and operate a factory on its own.

The Fisker Ocean competes with Tesla's Model Y SUV and a growing crowd of mid-size electric SUVs such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E.