Tesla in deal with Daimler (part zwei)

[dpeilow]

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[Tdave]

Interesting. Tesla now worth $555 million. GM now worth $885 million. This belongs in the milestone thread. When will Tesla have a higher valuation than GM?

And once that happens, will Tesla be the second largest US auto maker, behind only Ford?

What would you have said to me if 2 years ago I told you that by the end of 2009 Tesla would have a higher market cap than GM?

 

[vfx]

I alway thought when a major maker comes out with an EV they should do it under a totally different Brand.
The EV1 came out in the now defunct Saturn line but I thinking an even bigger separation like Nissan is to Infiniti or Toyota is to Lexus.
I don't mean the high end aspects of these Brands but using the model that these companies are totally disassociated from the parents.

The thinking here is that when GM is selling horribly non green behemoth like a Hummer on the same lot as an earth hugging EV that it sets up the company for unhealthy comparisons.

By Mercedes buying a bit of Tesla they get that division built in -even if they share the same dealership space.

 

[doug]

A couple more MSM articles:

Daimler to Buy Stake in Electric-Vehicle Company Tesla - WSJ.com

Electric Connection: Tesla, Daimler - BusinessWeek

 

[graham]

From doug's BuisnessWeek link (as an answer to if Tesla plans to sell in M-Benz dealerships):

So Teslas may pick up a bit of a German accent. But don't expect the cars to be sold at Mercedes dealerships anytime soon. "In major markets, I want to control that customer experience," says Musk.

 

[Picasso]

hmmm

Was the last round Tesla got an investment or a bridge loan? 20mil was it?

 

[doug]

I guess Jay Yarrow is eating his words a bit on that pointless Twitter comparison.

Tesla's New Valuation Is $550 Million - The Business Insider

Was the last round Tesla got an investment or a bridge loan? 20mil was it?

It was $40M convertible debt, which is like a loan that transforms into an investment.

Musk Makes Out In The Daimler Deal - The Business Insider

The last two times Tesla raised money for itself was through convertible debt financing. Musk led each of those $40 million raises.

Someone familiar with the terms of the convertible debt tells us there was a trigger in place that stipulated the debt converts to equity if Tesla raised an additional round at $50 million or above.

 

[vfx]

:

He says. " Major Markets"

I also think you could still control the customer experience in a separate building on a Mercedes lot with Tesla employees.

 

[TEG]

What would you have said to me if 2 years ago I told you that by the end of 2009 Tesla would have a higher market cap than GM?

I would have said you are full of ... . . . . . .good ideas...



I think many of us thought it could happen eventually, but in 2 years ?!

 

[johnr]

No new information here, but I particularly like this article - a little speculation but no glaring inaccuracies or bias that I could see:

Share in Tesla Electrifies the Teutons | Autopia | Wired.com

 

[Rheazombi]

has this already been posted?

Is Tesla really worth $550 million? Daimler apparently thinks so

kinda confirms my 50mil suspicions...

 

[dpeilow]

I think your 50mil suspicions were posted several times back up this thread :smile:

 

[Cobos]

I see several people also noticed the major markets bit. And personally I agree with Musk on this. It's a bit like Apple, they've got big major Apple stores and also their product displayed on more generic electronics stores. Especially as a way to extend your dealer network to smaller towns this sounds like an excellent option. Especially if a small Mercedes dealer can order and handle Tesla's without actively selling them.

Cobos

 

[vfx]

I see several people also noticed the major markets bit. And personally I agree with Musk on this. It's a bit like Apple, they've got big major Apple stores and also their product displayed on more generic electronics stores. Especially as a way to extend your dealer network to smaller towns this sounds like an excellent option. Especially if a small Mercedes dealer can order and handle Tesla's without actively selling them.

Cobos

Great analogy Cobos. My local Best Buy has a little Apple table. I don't know if the guy that mans the display is Apple-trained but if Elon is so concerned about controlling the message, the scaled down (no repair facility) Mercedes-Tesla dealership will have a Tesla trained person that is the only one allowed to sell the Tesla line.

 

[Palpatine]

(Lime green Roadster!)

I just heard that this Roadster is actually Signature #100. It was purposefully not built or sold earlier. They are doing something special with it for promotional purposes.

 

[doug]

legal stuff

Daimler Taps Hughes Hubbard For Tesla Motors Stake

Daimler, based in Stuttgart, turned to Hughes Hubbard & Reed on the deal. The firm's relationship with Daimler extends to a previous relationship with Chrysler Financial dating back more than a decade, according to lead M&A partner Kenneth Lefkowitz. Hughes Hubbard began representing DaimlerChrysler Financial Services after Daimler bought Chrysler in 1998.The client eventually became Daimler Financial Services when Chrysler was sold off to Cerberus Capital Management in 2007.

...

Tesla was advised by Silicon Valley stalwart Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Corporate securities partner Mark Baudler and IP partner Selwyn Goldberg served as lead outside counsel to Tesla. Name partner and firm chairman Larry Sonsini sits on Tesla's board of directors.

 

[doug]

founders' comments

Tesla Co-Founder Questions Valuation at 47% of GM's (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Daimler AG’s purchase of a 9 percent stake in Tesla Motors Inc. leaves co-founder Martin Eberhard wondering whether the electric-car startup is really worth almost half the market value of General Motors Corp.

...

“It’s sort of amusing to see the valuation being half of General Motors,” Eberhard said in an interview today. “There always seems to be this huge disparity between the stock price of high-growth Silicon Valley companies and blue-chip companies that are reasonably mature.”

Eberhard said his stake is less than 5 percent.

...

The Model S sedan will have three versions with list prices ranging from $50,000 to $70,000, Eberhard said. Now, having developed a styling prototype for the sedan, Tesla must still create a factory and tooling for the new car as well as crash- test it, Eberhard said
...
The probable bankruptcy filing by GM means that its market value and Tesla’s are “not really comparable” said Marc Tarpenning, who co-founded Tesla with Eberhard. Still, he said that as “a shareholder, I think it’s a spectacular valuation.”

Tarpenning formerly served as Tesla’s vice president of engineering and continues to hold a stake in the company.

“If you are going to be raising money, clean tech is one of the few things people are actually writing checks for,” he said.

 

[TEG]

...47 percent as much as GM based on today’s stock price as the automaker faces a probable June 1 bankruptcy...

With GM seemingly on the verge of flushing their public stock, I wonder why they were up over 32% today to close at $1.92
Short buying to cover June 1 options at $0? I don't understand why there would be a runup just prior to an expected bankruptcy.

 

[doug]

Speculation, just in case they don't go bankrupt.

 

[doug]