3:47 pm, September 1, 2020
Tesla plans to sell millions of shares as it looks to raise cash to spend on ‘unspecified general corporate purposes’.
The move could help fund the electric car manufacturer’s new factory in Germany and plans by Tesla boss Elon Musk to build another plant in Austin, Texas.
Tesla announced the plan to sell up to five billion dollars worth of common shares, a day after its five-for-one stock split took effect.
The electric car and solar panel maker said in a filing with securities regulators that it intends to sell 10.03 million shares.
The sales would be made ‘from time to time’, said the electric vehicle firm, and the actual amount of the offering cannot be determined at present.
Tesla shares rose 2.1 per cent in pre-market trading today after the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The manufacturer said the stock would be sold through 10 different brokerage houses, and each would get a 0.5 per cent commission.
Tesla share prices closed yesterday at 498.32 dollars.
As of June 30, Tesla had £6.38bn in cash and roughly £6.31bn in debt excluding vehicle and solar panel financing.
As well as the new factories, Tesla is gearing up to roll out its new Cybertruck pickup and a semi some time next year.
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, SG Americas, Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas are listed as the sales agents.
The move comes days after Musk revealed new wireless technology, which he hopes will help people with severe neurological conditions, had been implanted in pigs.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder showed off the technology during a demonstration from his startup Neuralink which appeared aimed at recruiting new staff.
The entrepreneur showed off a prototype of the device, about the size of a large coin, which had been surgically placed inside several pigs shown in an enclosure behind him.
He said of one pig: ‘We have a healthy and happy pig, initially shy but obviously high energy and, you know, kind of loving life, and she’s had the implant for two months.’
He described the chip as ‘a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires’.
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