Italian private equiy firm Investindustrial has invested €120 million (£99.7m) in the Rimac Group, joining Porsche, Hyundai and other high-profile firms as large-scale investors in the fast-expanding Croatian outfit.
Investindustrial, which in 2019 became the controlling shareholder of British sports car firm Morgan, first invested in Rimac last year, and says it has been supporting Rimac “by leveraging its deep automotive experience, developed with current and prior investments in Ducati, Aston Martin and Morgan Motors”.
The investment firm estimates that electric vehicles will make up a third of the market by 2025 and more than half by 2023, and thus aims to “accelerate the transition to electrification by backing the best available technological solutions for high-performance electric vehicles developed by Rimac Technology”.
Rimac itself is known as an electric hypercar maker, but also as a supplier of EV-specific technology to some of the world’s biggest mainstream vehicle firms.
It recently spun off its engineering division into the stand-alone Rimac Technology arm, which will develop technology for use in-house and by third-party firms, while the firm’s own cars will be developed by Bugatti Rimac - formed last year when Rimac merged with the storied French hypercar firm.
Rimac now employs more than 1300 people at its headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia, where it is putting the finishing touches to its 1888bhp Nevera hypercar – claimed to be the world’s fastest-accelerating production car – ahead of customer deliveries beginning later this year.
Mate Rimac remains the CEO of both divisions and Investindustrial’s investment does not impact Porsche’s 45% stake in the Rimac Bugatti car division.
It is unclear what percentage stake Investindustrial now holds in Rimac, nor exactly how it divided its investment since its first injection in 2021.
Investindustrial said: “The potential of the market in which [Rimac] operates, its pivotal role in the electrification of the automotive sector and its focus on ESG matters make Rimac the prototype for the kind of companies with demonstrated technological prowess and strong environmental impact on which Investindustrial intends to focus, as part of its constant commitment to sustainable investments.”
Its chairman, Andrea Bonomi, pledged that the firm aims to be “a solid, long-term partner in the implementation of the group's cutting-edge technologies, which are fundamental for pursuing the objective of further strengthening its leadership in the electric mobility sector.”
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