CEO and founder of U.S. Nikola Trevor Milton
Massimo Pinca | Reuters
General Motors is forgoing a potential 11% equity stake in Nikola and dropping plans to build the electric truck maker’s pickup, the Badger, in a smaller, reworked deal, the companies announced Monday.
In September, the automakers announced a $2 billion deal that gave GM an 11% stake in Nikola for supplying battery and fuel cell technologies as well as producing the pickup.
The deal was expected to close before Sept. 30 but the talks became convoluted following fraud allegations against Nikola and its founder, Trevor Milton, who resigned as the company’s executive chairman on Sept. 21. Since then, two women also have now filed sexual assault claims with Utah authorities against Milton.
Shares of Nikola were down about 14% in pre-market trading Monday. GM stock was down less than 1%.
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