A deal to merge British electric lorry maker Tevva with ElectraMeccanica in the US has fallen through after the vehicle designer alleged “multiple incurable breaches”.
The merger, which was only announced in August, would have enabled Tevva to scale its production to serve the UK, European and US markets and seen the Brit firm’s headquarters transferred to Arizona.
But ElectraMeccanica said the deal was off after it alleged Tevva had failed to disclose “material information”.
In a statement, the US company said: “The decision to terminate the agreement was made by a unanimous decision of ElectraMeccanica’s board of directors based on additional information that came to light following execution of the arrangement agreement.”
It added that it was exploring legal avenues in connection with the breaches and said loans and accrued interest were due to be repaid by January 2024.
Tevva was provided with a $6m (£4.9m) credit facility by ElectraMeccanica as part of the original deal.
A Tevva spokesman said: “We are deeply disappointed by ElectraMeccanica’s abrupt decision to terminate the proposed merger agreement. We are considering our position and until we have done so will not be making further comment.”
The company manufactures 7.5-tonne to 19-tonne full-electric and hydrogen-electric trucks.
For more stories tracking the industry journey to decarbonisation see our new Freight Carbon Zero website.