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  3. |DEAL NOTE: Crowell & Moring Advises Kymco Capital and Kwang Yang Motor Co. in First Publicly Traded EV Motorcycle Company in U.S., Valued at $1.77 Billion

DEAL NOTE: Crowell & Moring Advises Kymco Capital and Kwang Yang Motor Co. in First Publicly Traded EV Motorcycle Company in U.S., Valued at $1.77 Billion

Firm News | 2 min read | 12.14.21

Los Angeles, CA – December 14, 2021: Harley-Davidson, Inc. and AEA Bridges Impact Corp. (ABIC), a special purpose acquisition company with a dedicated sustainability focus, announced on December 12 that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement under which ABIC will combine with LiveWire, Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycle division, to create a new publicly traded company. Crowell & Moring advised Kymco Capital and Kwang Yang Motor Co. Ltd. (KYMCO) in its strategic investment in LiveWire.

The deal is a historic milestone, with LiveWire set to become the first publicly traded EV motorcycle company in the U.S., building on Harley-Davidson’s iconic 118-year lineage. LiveWire will benefit from its industry-leading partners, leveraging Harley-Davidson and KYMCO’s engineering expertise, manufacturing footprint, distribution, supply chain infrastructure, and global logistics capabilities.

Upon closing of the deal, LiveWire is expected to have an enterprise value of approximately $1.77 billion and post-money equity value of approximately $2.31 billion at closing, which is expected in the first half of 2022, subject to the approval of ABIC shareholders and other customary closing conditions. Once the deal is complete, Harley-Davidson will retain an equity interest in LiveWire of approximately 74 percent, ABIC shareholders will own approximately seventeen percent, and ABIC’s founders and KYMCO will own approximately four percent each.

This transaction demonstrates Kymco Capital’s expertise in transportation and EV related markets. Through KYMCO, Kymco Capital has exclusive investment opportunities not available to other investment funds.

Crowell & Moring’s global, cross-practice deal team was led by Evan Chuck, partner Richard Holbrook, and counsel Zhongdong Zhang, and included partners Olivier Antoine, Caroline Brown, Vincent Galluzzo, Derek Hahn, Maarten Stassen, and Scott Winkelman, counsel William Bruno and Matthew Welling, and associates Wei-Chih Hsu and Jane Liang.

About Crowell & Moring LLP

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia that represents clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and transactional and corporate matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation and government-facing matters, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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