- Mullen Technologies plans to open electric vehicle manufacturing facility in West Plains via proposed merger with NETE
- Reverse merger will give Mullen stakeholders majority in newly formed company while accelerating process of taking Mullen public
- Proposed 1.3 million square foot manufacturing facility is expected to create up to 4000 jobs by 2026
Mullen Technologies (“Mullen”) plans to bring electric vehicle (“EV”) manufacturing to West Plains, Washington through a proposed merger with Net Element (NASDAQ: NETE), a global technology group based in Miami that operates electronic payment services.
While still in its planning stages, the new EV manufacturing facility will comprise 1.3 million square feet of assembly and manufacturing space. A total of nearly 4000 jobs are expected to be created that include 55 at startup, 863 by 2026, and an additional 3,000 from the research and development of lithium-ion batteries through Mullen’s subsidiary company, Mullen Energy.
“We believe the timing of this merger is ideal for Mullen Technologies,” Mullen CEO David Michery said in recent statements (http://ibn.fm/b0ZoJ). “It comes on the preparation of our launch of the Dragonfly K50, which will be available in (the second quarter) of 2021 through our retail network in California and Arizona, and the development of a new EV model, the MX-05 Sport Utility Vehicle.”
Electric vehicle sales have grown substantially in recent years due to the falling prices of EV batteries, changes in fuel regulations and electric vehicle mandates in countries like China, which is expected to account for almost half (48%) of all passenger car sales in 2025, according to research by BloombergNEF (http://ibn.fm/LDvxf). Besides taking over most of the global passenger market by 2040, the report also predicts that electric vehicles will dominate municipal bus sales by 81% while taking 56% of light commercial vehicle sales and 31% of the medium commercial market.
Plans for the West Plains manufacturing plant are expected to accelerate following the merger, anticipated to occur in the third quarter of 2020. Pending stockholder and NASDAQ approval, the reverse merger between the companies will allow the stakeholders of Mullen Technologies, a privately held company, to acquire a majority of the stock in the newly formed company while accelerating the process of taking Mullen public and expanding its manufacturing operations.
NETE helps businesses of all sizes deliver innovative, virtually seamless payment systems with services that also include marketing solutions and business analytics. Ranked by Deloitte in 2017 and 2018 as one of North America’s 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies, NETE credits its progression to organic growth in its North America transactions segment.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.NetElement.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to NETE are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/NETE
