MONTREAL, Oct. 4, 2023 /CNW/ – Taiga Motors Corporation (TSX: TAIG) (“Taiga” or the “Company”), a leading electric off-road vehicle manufacturer, announced that it has entered into a $15 million Secured Term Loan Agreement with Export Development Canada (“EDC”). The loan will support the Company’s continued growth towards producing approximately 1,000 vehicles in 2023.
Taiga is pleased to announce the closing of a term loan agreement (“Term Loan”) in a principal amount of $15 million with EDC. The Term Loan provides Taiga with additional liquidity and flexibility in managing its working capital. The Term Loan bears interest on the drawn funds at the annual rate of the prevailing Canadian prime rate plus 5.00% and provides for multiple advances over a nine-month drawdown period, with the first draw being today on October 4, 2023. The Term Loan matures on February 10, 2028.
“EDC’s support is welcomed as Taiga expands deliveries of its award-winning electric personal watercrafts and snowmobiles to customers in Canada, United States and eventually across the globe. The Term Loan allows added flexibility for Taiga to better manage its working capital,” stated Sam Bruneau, CEO and Co-Founder of Taiga.
The Term Loan also contains limited affirmative and negative covenants (including certain financial covenants relating to current ratios and cashflows from operation) and events of default. The incurrence of indebtedness and granting of security under the Term Loan are specifically permitted under the terms of the convertible debentures issued by Taiga in March and April 2023.
Over the third quarter of 2023, Taiga made important progress on ramping up operations producing 365 Orca personal watercrafts, a 105% increase over Q2 production and bringing the total production in the first nine months of 2023 to 639 vehicles. Launched in August, the Orca Performance model has enabled the Company to materially increase its production efficiency. Despite initial hurdles in part availability affecting the start of production, the Company recently achieved an important milestone, producing more than 50 vehicles per week. With the upcoming production change-over to snowmobiles now in November, Taiga expects to produce approximately 1,000 vehicles in 2023.
Taiga (TSX: TAIG) is a Canadian company reinventing the powersports landscape with breakthrough electric off-road vehicles. Through a clean-sheet engineering approach, Taiga has pushed the frontiers of electric technology to achieve extreme power-to-weight ratios and thermal specifications required to outperform comparable high-performance combustion powersports vehicles. After introducing its first models of electric snowmobiles and personal watercraft in 2022, Taiga has been focusing on its production ramp up and deliveries to recreational and commercial customers, who are seeking better ways to explore the great outdoors without compromise. For more information, visit www.taigamotors.com.
This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information on our objectives and the strategies to achieve these objectives, the expected operations and condition of the Company, the Company’s growth rates, the Company’s future objectives and strategies to achieve those objectives, including, without limitation, organic growth, expected timelines for achieving mass production capabilities, the ramp-up of its current facility, the ability to obtain sufficient financing, as well as information with respect to our beliefs, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. This forward-looking information is identified by the use of terms and phrases such as “may”, “would”, “should”, “could”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “foresee”, “believe”, and “continue”, as well as the negative of these terms and similar terminology, including references to assumptions, although not all forward-looking information contains these terms and phrases.
Forward-looking information is provided for the purposes of assisting the reader in understanding the Company and its business, operations, prospects and risks at a point in time in the context of historical and possible future developments and therefore the reader is cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.
Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in, or implied by, such forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the conditions precedent for future disbursements of the Term Loan, the effective further supply chain disruptions, and the impact of such disruptions on production and those described in the Company’s management’s discussion and analysis for the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2023, and under the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s annual information form filed on March 30, 2023 on the Company’s SEDAR profile at sedar.com. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are based on information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such statements.
All of the forward-looking information contained in this press release is qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements, and there can be no guarantee that the results or developments that we anticipate will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences or effects on our business, financial condition or results of operation. Unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise indicates, the forward-looking information contained herein is provided as of the date hereof, and we do not undertake to update or amend such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.
SOURCE Taiga Motors Corporation