Photo credit: Fisker

Fisker, an electric car maker, is eyeing a public listing just after closing $50 million in new funding, according to a report from Reuters. Reuters reports Fisker is considering going public by merging with a “blank-check” acquisition company, a recently popularized method of listing on the public markets that entail combining with a “blank-check” firm, which refers to a corporate entity that primarily has no operations and is taken public for the sole purpose of merging with another private business. This method of going public has become popular as of late, with companies including fellow electric vehicle maker Nikola and betting platform DraftKings having taken that route to hit the public markets.

Fisker, an electric car maker that traces its roots to the defunct electric car maker Fisker Automotive, recently raised $50 million in funding from an investment vehicle controlled by hedge fund titan Louis Bacon. The investment is said to have valued Fisker at $1.6 billion. Fisker hasn’t produced a vehicle but aims to do so by 2022. The company’s planned first vehicle is an electric SUV named the Fisker Ocean.

Currently, Fisker maintains offices in the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley areas. The company recently made some notable hires, including a chief technology officer that’s a veteran of German automaker Volkswagen.

According to Reuters, the “blank-check” company that Fisker is looking to merge with is Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp, which is notably backed by famed private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Spartan raised $552 million in an initial public offering in 2018 and has since-maintained its acquisition focus on the North American energy industry. If Fisker successfully merges with Spartan, the majority of the amount raised by the “blank-check” firm will presumably go to Fisker and help fund its production costs.