TVR seeks £25m investment to secure future
Short-term funds needed to move long-awaited Griffith to production phase
TVR is hoping to raise the £25m it says it needs to finally start building the new Griffith and help it adopt a self-sustaining business model. The launch of a new bond issuance - detailed in a new report by Audacia Capital - is expected to provide the necessary liquidity. It comes five months after the firm confirmed its powertrain deal with Ford, and revealed that its Ebbw Vale factory needs a new roof before it can begin building cars. The investor report makes it clear though that its ambitions do not stop with the Griffith, outlining the ambition to follow it up with three more cars, should it receive financing.
TVR is targeting the Dublin Stock Exchange with its bonds, set to mature in 2025. In the document, first reported by Autocar, TVR pitches its business plan as a low cost, high return investment, thanks in part to the use of those Ford engines, a “low energy assembly process” and externally replicable car production. The company says these things will make it easier to enter new territories, “thereby avoiding import tariffs”, suggesting its Wales HQ won’t be the only place that needs a roof in the future.
Interestingly, TVR’s says its plans already encompass electrification, claiming that the Griffith’s spaceframe core and surrounding carbonfibre structure are ready for hybrid and full EV power sources – set to be supplied by Ford as part of that new deal. It reckons this will help to future-proof investments, while also enabling expansion to a four-model line-up by the close of this decade. Sales are predictably intended to start in Britain, with continental Europe, North America, Japan and the Middle East following, along with Australia.
The report makes clear there's money in the pot already, with TVR brand owed £8.2m from debtors, although the business has loans with the Welsh government and finance company Fiduciam Nominees, worth £2m and £3m respectively. Its Ebbw Vale factory is unfinished and obviously requires further investment, while the only employees currently on its books are the team of directors. TVR has a fully functional Griffith prototype – complete with its Gordon Murray-designed aerodynamics, 500hp powerplant and claimed near 50:50 weight distribution – to demonstrate its potential.
Additionally, TVR hints that both cheaper and pricier versions of the Griffith could be launched, with “different price points… currently under strategic evaluation”. Different body shapes, track and racing models are also said to be in the pipeline, which is a conspicuous nod to TVR's former glory days, most notably the Tuscan Cup, which provided the market for 100 chassis to compete.
When it was introduced in 2017, TVR said the 5.0-litre V8 two-door would cost about £90k and customers could expect their cars by 2019. That obviously hasn’t happened – and, anecdotally at least, the TVR forum on PH suggests that some depositors are unimpressed with the progress made in recent months. Whether news of the bond issuance allays their concerns or not, the firm is clearly exploring every avenue available to it. As ever, we'll keep our fingers and toes crossed that TVR makes a triumphant return to British roads in the not too distant future.
Would be interesting to know where this aged debt comes from given that they have no sales - is that how they are accounting for the deposits ??
Will be interesting to see what yield these bonds offer ( suspect it is going to have to be very high ) and hard to see how they will re-pay them in 2025, other than issue new ones.
You would have to be really happy treading that fine line between brave and foolhardy to invest in these.... Given the problems that Mclaren and Aston are having at the moment, I just can't see how a smaller volume manufacturer, selling at a lower price point, and needing to invest more heavily to build a factory from scratch can possibly prosper.
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