Amazon-backed EV start-up Rivian targeting a valuation over $60 billion in IPO

Electric vehicle start-up Rivian Automotive is targeting a valuation of more than $60 billion in its initial public offering, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CNBC.

Rivian plans to go public as soon as next week and the valuation could shift by then, those sources said. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “RIVN,” according to Rivian’s IPO prospectus filed last month.

The valuation would make Rivian the titan among a crop of electric vehicle start-ups and recently public companies from the U.S., including Fisker, Lordstown Motors and Lucid, and would put it on par with Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio. It would also mean Rivian is only slightly less valuable than traditional automotive giants such as Ford, which is an investor in Rivian; Stellantis, which was created from the merger of Fiat-Chrysler and PSA; and GM.

Rivian is developing commercial last-mile delivery vans for Amazon, which has said it plans to have 10,000 vans on the road by 2022 and 100,000 by 2030. Rivian also beat Tesla, GM and Ford to the market with an electric pickup, the R1T, which has received early acclaim.

Amazon last week disclosed it has a 20% stake in Rivian, which, combined with other equity investments, had a carrying value of up to $3.8 billion. Amazon has invested more than $1.3 billion in Rivian to date, the automaker said in a separate securities filing earlier this month.

Ford holds a roughly 12% stake in Rivian, the sources told CNBC.

A Rivian spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s expected IPO valuation or the value of Ford’s stake in the start-up.

News of Rivian’s expected valuation was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.

WATCH: Amazon reveals it has 20% stake in Rivian