Denis Sverdlov, a former Russian Deputy Minister, was already a wealthy man from a telecom startup when he turned his attention to electric vehicles and founded Arrival Ltd in 2015. Four years later, he’d injected about $450 million in the truck and bus maker through an investment firm. Then in November, he merged it with CIIG Merger Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Corp or SPAC led by Peter Cuneo, the former Chief Executive officer of Marvel Entertainment.
Arrival, which has yet to begin full production, is now worth $15.3 billion, more than double its valuation at the start of last year. Sverdlov, 42, who’ll control most of the London-based company’s stock once the deal is completed, will soon have a net worth of $11.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
An Arrival spokesperson declined to comment on Sverdlov’s wealth. CIIG shareholders are scheduled to vote on the merger Friday.
SPACs — listed cash-shell companies that merge with private businesses in order to take them public — have raked in about $85 billion this year. Athletes and entertainers like Alex Rodriguez, Shaquille O’Neal and Sammy Hagar have started black-check firms, along with a host of the ultra-rich, including hedge fund manager William Ackman and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc President Gary Cohn.
Arrival isn’t the only firm seeing huge gains from SPACs. Air taxi start-up Archer Aviation’s valuation rocketed from $16 million in April 2020 to $3.8 billion through a merger announced last month with a blank-check firm. The implied valuation of electric-vehicle maker Lucid Motors Inc., which recently agreed to combine with a SPAC led by ex-Citigroup Inc. banker Michael Klein, exceeded $55 billion after the deal was announced, more than Ford Motor Co.’s market value.
“SPACs are a bonanza for those arranging them,” said Keith Johnston, chief executive officer of SFO Alliance, a London-based investment club for single-family offices.