Electric-semi start-up Nikola (NKLA 1.52%) said that it will begin redeeming the 23 million publicly traded warrants issued by VectoIQ Acquisition, the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that merged with Nikola in June.
The warrants in question, which now trade under the ticker "NKLAW," allow owners to buy one share of Nikola common stock from the company at $11.50, well below its recent price.
Under the 2018 agreement that created the warrants, Nikola has the right to redeem the publicly traded warrants if its stock price closes at $18.00 or higher on twenty trading days within any thirty-day period.
That condition has been met, the company said on Wednesday.
Nikola is aiming to begin production of its electric heavy trucks next year. Image source: Nikola Corporation.
All registered holders of the warrants will receive a notice of redemption that explains how to redeem the warrants, which must be redeemed by 5:00 p.m. EDT on August 21. Holders of warrants that remain unredeemed after that date will be entitled to receive just $0.01 per warrant, the company said.
This redemption doesn't apply to warrants that are still held by the original investors who received them via a private placement in 2018, the company said.
Assuming that most or all of the public warrants are redeemed, Nikola will issue 23 million new shares of stock, receiving about $264 million in cash in return. The company has about 1.18 billion shares outstanding.
Nikola is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings results after the market closes on Aug. 4.
