Electric Last Mile Solutions Inc. filed Tuesday a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, disclosing that it has more than $50 million in liabilities to dozens of creditors.
The EV delivery van startup’s bankruptcy petition, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, is the first step of a liquidation process the suburban Detroit company announced Sunday.
Once a rising EV star with a $1.4 billion valuation, the company was unable to recover from an abrupt loss of leadership and regulatory troubles on top of a lack of financing and manufacturing capabilities.
The company’s estimated assets range from $50 million to $100 million, as do its estimated liabilities, according to the court filing.
It has between 100 and 199 creditors, from large Michigan-based automotive suppliers Continental Automotive Systems Inc. and Autoliv Inc. to logistics, software and financial services firms and a host of law firms including Butzel Long PC, Foley & Lardner LLP, and Clark Hill PLC.
Also listed as creditors are Suburban Ford of Waterford and Tesla, at 2800 W. Big Beaver Road, where the EV giant has a showroom inside Somerset Collection.
Corporations owning more than 10 percent of the startup include AJ Capital Investment and Luo Pan Investment II, both Bloomfield Hills-based firms registered to Jason Luo — cofounder and ex-chairman of the company.
Luo and James Taylor, former president and CEO, were forced out of the company after an investigation found they improperly purchased equity in the company before it went public though a SPAC merger a year ago.
Electric Last Mile is being represented by Kara Coyle, partner at Delaware-based Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP. Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Coyle offered no comment and directed questions to the company.
The company could not be reached through a spokesman.
The status of the company’s employees at its headquarters in Troy, Mich., remains unclear. The company also occupied a manufacturing plant in Mishawaka, Ind. It announced in March it was laying off 50 employees, or about a quarter of its staff.
Some of the other creditors include:
- Altair Engineering
- Blue Care Network Of Michigan
- FEV North America Inc
- Humanetics
- Mahindra Integrated Business Solutions
- MicroCenter
- Penske
- ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corp.
- United Road
