Fisker raises equity, clears US gov't loan hurdle

Reuters, Friday January 15 2010
* Fisker secures $115 million private equity funding
* A123 among investors, to take seat on Fisker board
* Clears hurdle for $529 million of U.S. govt loans (Adds quotes from Fisker CEO, details, byline)
By Kevin Krolicki
DETROIT, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Electric car builder Fisker Automotive said on Friday it had raised $115 million in equity, clearing a key financing hurdle that will allow it to draw on U.S. government loans needed to launch two plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Raising the additional equity was a condition Fisker had to meet to gain access to a $529 million loan the U.S. government granted to help fund the carmaker's expansion plan.
A123 Systems Inc, which signed a deal this week to supply lithium-ion battery packs to Fisker for its two upcoming plug-in hybrid models, invested $23 million in Fisker and will take a seat on the board.
Fisker said other investors in the funding round included Silicon Valley-based Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of the early investors in the California-based start-up founded in 2007, and Ace Investments.
Fisker had raised $45 million from existing investors late last year, founder and Chief Executive Henrik Fisker told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
Taken together with the funding announced on Friday, Fisker now has raised enough equity to access the loans the U.S. Department of Energy pledged to provide in September.
Fisker plans to borrow up to $169 million to finish engineering on its Karma sports sedan and another $359 million to build a second, less expensive hybrid sedan.
Fisker, speaking to Reuters, said he expected to close on the Department of Energy loans over the next four weeks.
He said the company was also on track to complete the $18 million purchase of a former GM assembly plant in Delaware by the end of March.
"That's all on track," Fisker said.
The Karma, a rechargeable sports car scheduled to go on sale in September, is designed to travel 50 miles on a single charge. It will sell for $87,900 and be built in Finland by Valet Automotive.
Fisker is also developing a second, lower-cost vehicle under its "Project Nina", a rechargeable sedan it expects to start building in 2012. That sedan is expected to sell for $47,400 before a U.S. tax credit to consumers of $7,500.
Fisker needs to raise an additional $27 million in equity by Feb. 15 to reach the next milestone under its U.S. government loan agreement.
A123, which is targeting the growth market in electric car power packs, will supply batteries for both Fisker vehicles. The company also has supply arrangements with China's SAIC and BMW.
Boston-based A123 had previously lost out in a competition to supply batteries for the Chevy Volt, a battery-powered car due later this year from General Motors Co.
A123 said in filing with securities regulators that its $23 million investment in Fisker consisted of $13 million in cash and $10 million in A123 common stock. (Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim and Poornima Gupta; editing by Gunna Dickson)