Re-Auction Of Fisker Nets $90+ Million More Dollars and the Rebirth Of The Karma - Possible Atlantic Too

In January, a Delaware bankruptcy judge threw out an earlier bankruptcy deal that he felt had been rushed by Hybrid Technologies LLC and Fisker to quickly complete a sale to get ahead of other potential bidders That agreement would have saw Hybrid take control of the EV maker for a few million dollars plus the $25 million they paid for the DoE's ATVML loan.

This week, we found out the judge made the right call.

After 2.5 days, and 19 rounds of bidding, Chinese part giant Wanxiang outbid Hybrid Tech LLC for the right to once again seek approval (which it for sure will get next Tuesday, Feb 18th) to control Fisker.

Final price? $149.2 million dollars.

Hybrid Tech put a value on their original bid of about $77 million - although the bulk of that was assessing the government-owned debt on Fisker that they had just purchased for $25 million at $75 million, with just $500,000 going to unsecured creditors.

“This is a great result for all Fisker stakeholders, including Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC and Fisker’s general unsecured creditors,” Marc Beilinson, Fisker's chief restructuring officer said of the new result.

So About That Extended Range Fisker Atlantic...

As the unsecured creditors did much, much better in this new deal ($8 million), their representation - Bill Bladiga was also pretty happy with auction, and took the opportunity to twist the knife a little on Hybrid and Fisker:

"We are honestly delighted. This is six times what Fisker said it was worth when it started the bankruptcy case three months ago, and the committee was the only one fighting to have a transparent and open process, notwithstanding the fact that we had opposition every step along the way from Fisker and Hybrid."

Hyrbid Tech reportedly offered as much as $55 million plus their $25 million dollar purchased ATVML note.

“After actively bidding in the auction, Hybrid has elected to retain its rights as a lender rather than continue to bid for ownership of Fisker,” the company said in a statement.

What does this means as to the future of Fisker, and the Karma and Atlantic?

Wanxiang, given that it already owns bankrupt US battery supplier A123, has clearly stated their intentions to restart Karma production and possibly continue with plans to operate a $20 million, ex-GM facility in Delaware to build the 2nd generation Atlantic or another product.

Source: Fisker Automotive Holdings Inc., Case: 13-bk-13087, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington). USA Today, and company statements.