Tesla Motors, the start-up electric car manufacturer bidding to be the first significant new auto company in the US in over a generation, filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of stock.
Tesla’s S-1 registration statement, filed with the SEC on January 29, 2010, provides the required financial information about the company prior to a public offering, but as is typically the case in an initial registration, does not yet contain details about the terms of the offering itself. The company indicated it was planning to raise about $100 million through the offering.
The offering follows on the heels of the finalization of a $465 million loan to Tesla from the US Department of Energy. One of a series of loans made by DoE to support the development and manufacturing of advanced vehicle technologies in the US, the loan will support the construction of two facilities – a vehicle manufacturing plant in Southern California for the company’s Model S electric car and a power-train manufacturing facility in Palo Alto for the batteries, electric drive-train and other electric components of the company’s vehicles.