LORDSTOWN, Ohio — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video in the player above is from a previous story about Lordstown Motors.
Startup commercial electric vehicle maker Lordstown Motors says it has received a $400 million investment from a private equity firm. The struggling Ohio company says in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that New Jersey-based hedge fund YA II PN Ltd has agreed to buy $400 million of its stock. Shares of the company went up 5 percent in trading Monday after a steady fall the past month. Lordstown’s operations have been under increasing scrutiny in recent months after the company said it had no firm orders for its vehicles. The company’s CEO and chief financial officer then resigned.
The news comes about a month after Lordstown Motors let members of the media inside its operation in Trumbull County, where they got a behind-the-scenes look at the organization. They also got to take a ride in several prototypes of the company's flagship vehicles, the Endurance Truck, which is an all-electric vehicle the company hopes will re-invent the market.
“This week, we are focused on the future, and we look forward to letting the truck do the talking,” the company said in a statement in late June.
At that event, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, company executives did not take questions from reporters.
Last year, former Vice President Mike Pence helped hype Lordstown Motors and the Mahoning Valley's comeback. Since then, however, the company has acknowledged production delays and that truck order figures that had been released were inflated. It also indicated it may run out of money next year. Two top executives with the company have also resigned this year.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video in the player below is from a previous story about Lordstown Motors.