E.C.D. Automotive Design has announced new plans to go public, the company announced.
E.C.D., the Florida-based Land Rover restomod builder, and EF Hutton Acquisition Corporation (EFHT), a special purpose acquisition company formed by a division of Benchmark Investments, an investment bank, will merge, making E.C.D. a wholly owned subsidiary of EFHT. Following the merger, EFHT will change its name to “E.C.D. Automotive Design Inc.” and list the company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The transaction reflects an initial value for E.C.D. of $225 million.
E.C.D. was founded in 2013 and since inception, has delivered over 500 vehicles. E.C.D. recently moved into a new, 100,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility located in Kissimmee, Florida. In addition, E.C.D. has an affiliated dedicated logistics facility in the United Kingdom that it uses to source vehicles.
“We are excited to work with the experienced management team at EFHT and grateful for the opportunity to bring E.C.D. to new heights,” E.C.D.’s CEO and co-founder Scott Wallace said. “At E.C.D., we have overcome significant challenges and succeeded in creating one-of-one vehicle builds out of pure imagination, all made possible by our genuine passion for automotives. Our clients, fans and employees all share this drive for quality and innovation in E.C.D.’s vehicles, which is our north star as we grow the business of E.C.D.”
“We are thrilled to team up with the founders of E.C.D., as we view E.C.D. as the scaled leader in the highly fragmented, exotic automobile restoration and modification industry, which caters to an affluent client base and delivers a gross margin profile on par with other ultra-high end automobile manufacturers,” said EFHT’s Chairman and CEO, Benjamin Piggott. “E.C.D. has essentially been self-financed since inception and we believe that now is an opportune time to inject capital into the business, to accelerate E.C.D.’s already strong organic growth profile and fortify its dominant competitive position. We believe that the E.C.D. management team is keenly aware of the importance surrounding capital allocation decisions and that they have several projects that will deliver exceptional rates of return over the long term.”
