Another Electric Vehicle "Deal" for Our Review

A March 2010 (March Smith US PR) for Smith Electric Vehicles U.S.  to buy Smith Electric Vehicles UK from  UK’s Tanfield Group has been revived, with a twist, after Smith U.S.’s obtaining a windfall of over $30M in stimulus funds.  The new agreement, which, according to Tanfield, is non-binding, calls for Smith U.S. to license Tanfield technology  for a 1% per vehicle royalty fee, in addition to the U.S. acquisition of the assets of Smith UK and the “intellectual property necessary to allow the combined businesses to operate globally.”  In addition, Tanfield would retain a significant stake in the new venture (in anticipation of an early IPO, it is imagined).

While this complicates any valuation, it is the only action we’ve seen in the electronic vehicles space (since TESLA) that would allow any comparisons, so we’ll put it in our Green Technology folder and see what develops.