Here's what you need to know:
- Lion Electric, a Quebec-based electric truck and bus manufacturer, is bankrupt but has been bought by a group of Canadian investors led by real estate developer Vincent Chiara and Lion director Pierre Wilkie.
- The sale has been approved by a Quebec Superior Court judge.
- Lion will retain its St-Jérôme, Quebec manufacturing plant but several hundred laid-off employees will not be rehired.
- An earlier buyout offer from the investors was rejected due to its dependence on new government investment.
The saga of bankrupt Lion Electric continues.
The Quebec-based manufacturer of battery-electric medium- and heavy-duty semi trucks and school buses has reportedly found a savior willing to brink it back from financial ruin.
Per The Toronto Star, a Quebec Superior Court judge has officially approved the sale of Lion Electric to a group of local investors led by real estate developer Vincent Chiara and Pierre Wilkie, a Lion director.
The final terms of the agreement are still coming to light but we can confirm Lion will retain its manufacturing plant in St-Jérôme, Quebec. However, several hundred previously laid off employees will not return.
The investors previously attempted to purchase Lion a few weeks ago with a conditioned offer of receiving an another investment from the Quebec government. The offer was refused.
Quebec previously invested about $177 million CAD while the Ottawa government chipped in another $30 million CAD. Government officials were clearly in no mood to invest additional public money following the bankruptcy declaration.
The deal was revived last week when the investor group revised their offer upon confirming Quebec would renew an electric bus subsidy program, which expired in March.
What remains to be seen is whether Lion's new owners are willing to reassume financial and manufacturing control of the 900,000 sq. ft. Joliet, Ill. factory, which is currently shuttered and up for auction. Lion suspended Ill. production late last year.
Interestingly, the auction date has been delayed twice, now scheduled for May 29.
[Related: Bankrupt Lion Electric's Illinois school bus factory up for auction]
Clean Trucking has reached out to Gov. Pritzker's office about the facility's future. This article will be updated if a response is received.
Lion's new owners face a long list of other challenges, ranging from defective school buses in the U.S. and Canada as well as an investigation initiated by a New York-based law firm claiming Lion committed federal securities fraud.
