Image credit: Facebook (Navya)
France-based Navya, a company that claims to be a leading French name in the autonomous vehicle market and in smart shared mobility solutions, announced on Wednesday that it has signed a financial arrangement with Negma Group for a nominal sum of €36M.
Negma is an investment group based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and operates worldwide. The firm, through its equity financing solutions and activities, presents impactful and sustainable opportunities to SMEs. It has deployed over €1B in the funding of multiple companies since 2013.
Specifications of the convertible bonds
Under the terms of the agreement, the financing would be in the form of convertible bonds with an attached warrant allowing Negma to buy shares of Navya’s capital stock. Each share will have a nominal value of €2,500 and a 12-month maturity.
There will be no interest paid on the convertible bonds. A total of €36M worth of convertible bonds will be issued in capped tranches of €2.5M each.
According to a statement, Navya will select when to issue the tranches, and there must be a gap of 22 trading days between each tranche. If the Negma Group is unable to sell the Navya shares on the market owing to a lack of liquidity, the gap may be extended by 10 trading days.
Capital utilisation
With an initial injection of €2.5M, the company says that the funds will help improve Navya’s cash flow, allowing it to follow its technological roadmap, progress toward industrialisation, and enter areas where demand for autonomous mobility solutions is on the rise faster.
The funds will also help Navya to support its development cycle in the medium term and facilitate progress on its technological and commercial projects. Besides the funding, Negma will also help Navya to dynamise its strategic and operational performance across its value chain.
CEO of Navya, Sophie Desormière, says, “This first investment plan means that Navya will be able to implement its technological roadmap with confidence and will be in a position to deploy locally at scale in strategic regions like the Middle East.”
About Navya
Founded in 2014, Navya specialises in the supply of autonomous mobility systems and associated services. The company aims to take the lead in Level 4 autonomous mobility systems for passenger and cargo transport.
Known as high-driving automation, Level 4 autonomy does not require any human interaction in the vehicle’s operation because it is programmed to stop itself in the event of system failure. It is designed to handle unexpected situations like a system failure, although the human driver can still take back the wheel manually.
Listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris, Navya employs 280 people across France (Paris and Lyon), the US (Michigan), and Singapore.
Since 2015, Navya claims to be the first to market and put into service autonomous mobility solutions. The Autonom Shuttle, the company’s main development axis, is dedicated to passenger transport. Since its launch, more than 200 units have been sold in 25 countries. The Autonom Tract is designed for goods transport.
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