Nasdaq To Trade On $555,000 Flying Motorbike Maker

It has been reported that a Japanese maker of flying motorbikes plans to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange and start trading as soon as Friday in New York, making it the fifth firm from the Asian nation to join the tech-heavy exchange, according to sources familiar with the matter.

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With a merger of Pono Capital Corp. and ALI Technologies Inc. based in Tokyo, ALI Technologies Inc. is taking its business public through a public listing. In accordance with the terms of the deal, ALI Technologies will become a fully owned unit of Aerwins Technologies, which is the US arm of ALI Technologies, the people said, asking not to be named since the information has not yet been made public.

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Despite a market selloff last year, it is expected that its market cap will remain at at least $600 million by the end of the year. According to one of the people familiar with the matter, the ticker for the company will be AWIN.

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A representative of the company said the SPAC listing is in progress, but details have not yet been finalized. 

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An ALI Technologies official told one of the people that the company had initially considered an IPO in its home market, but decided to list on Nasdaq through a SPAC deal in order to expedite the process. Another person said that it might take a very long time to list your home on the market.

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In September, Aerwins Technologies announced its intention to listing on Nasdaq as well as the merger with Pono Capital, which will enable the startup to list on Nasdaq. Aerwins was estimated at the time to be valued at $600 million, with the total value of outstanding shares reaching a maximum of $750 million, assuming no redemptions would take place. Due to the decline in tech stocks and a decline in private valuations, many SPAC deals have fallen apart since that time.

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Shuhei Komatsu, a former Merill Lynch trader, founded ALI Technologies in 2016 to build drones and to manufacture them. In October of this year, the firm expanded its operations to include hoverbikes, launching the sale of its Xturismo Limited bike as part of its expansion plan. The single-person transporter has a speed of 80kmh (50mph) and is capable of travelling up to 40 minutes per charge. It costs $555,000 and can travel up to 80kmh (50mph). In light of the yen's weakness against the dollar, the firm lowered its dollar-based price tag from $777,000 to $672,000. 

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As part of the startup's first commercial sale, the Xturismo bike was sold to a local entrepreneur at home for the first time last year. To date, the bike has mainly been used for public events such as a recent baseball game, as a curio item.