Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Volvo Cars in connection with its proposed IPO and listing on Nasdaq Stockholm

Clifford Chance is advising Volvo Car AB (publ) ("Volvo Cars") and its main shareholder, Geely Sweden, in connection with Volvo Cars' proposed IPO and listing on Nasdaq Stockholm. The proposed IPO is expected to consist of the issuance of new shares by Volvo Cars to raise gross proceeds of approximately SEK 25 billion (approximately US$2.8 billion) and potentially the sale of some of its existing shares by Geely Sweden.

Founded and headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1927, over the course of its history Volvo Cars has been a global force for automotive safety and innovation. Volvo Cars has been credited with a number of industry leading innovations that are now standard in cars across the world, such as the three-point safety belt, the side impact protection system, side impact airbags and autonomous emergency braking. Volvo Cars is now one of the world’s fastest growing (both in terms of units sold and revenue) premium automotive brands and is focused on the design, engineering, manufacturing, distribution and sale of premium passenger cars, with particular focus on sustainability, fully electric cars, direct to consumer relations including subscription and other new mobility services. Since Geely Sweden became majority owner of Volvo Cars in 2010, Volvo Cars has gone from selling 373,525 cars to more than 770,000 cars in over 100 countries during the twelve months ended 30 June 2021.

Clifford Chance is also advising Volvo Cars as the largest shareholder in Polestar, the electric vehicle manufacturer, in connection with Polestar's proposed Nasdaq listing in New York which has an implied enterprise value of approximately U.S.$20 billion. Polestar's planned listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York will be made through a business combination with Gores Guggenheim, Inc, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) formed by affiliates of The Gores Group and Guggenheim Capital LLC.

The Clifford Chance team was led by London-based ECM partner Simon Thomas and US securities partner Andrew Kelly. The partners were supported by US counsel Terrence Moloney, ECM senior associate Leonid Stoliarski, ECM associates Yuli Adagun and Luke NG, and US law clerk Teri Teng. The core team were assisted by New York partners, David Brinton (Corporate) and Jon Zonis (Capital Markets), and Counsel Matthew Warner (Corporate) in connection with the Polestar transaction.

Simon Thomas commented "We are delighted to be helping Volvo Cars on two such strategically important transactions, with the proposed IPO marking the start of a new chapter for Volvo Cars".

The two high profile mandates arose from the strength of the firm's relationship with Volvo Cars, with London finance partners Peter Dahlen and Paul Deakins having advised Volvo Cars on its bank and capital markets financing.

Clifford Chance has advised on many of the largest recent European equity listings, including Azelis and its majority shareholder EQT on €1.8 billion IPO on Euronext Brussels, InPost (Europe's largest ever tech IPO), Pepco (the largest IPO in Central and Eastern Europe in 2021 so far), Allegro (IFR EMEA IPO of the Year 2020), The Hut Group (the largest IPO on the LSE in 2020) and JDE Peet's (Europe's largest IPO in 2020). The Clifford Chance team has also advised in recent years on the European IPOs of Adyen (IFLR Equity Deal of the Year 2019) and Network International (IFR EMEA IPO of the Year 2019 and the largest IPO on the LSE in 2019).