Arrival ARVL said Monday that it will cut its global workforce in half, to about 800 employees, as it implements a restructuring aimed at cutting spending by about 50% to preserve cash. The stock was halted for news, until 9:00 a.m. Eastern. The Luxembourg-based electric vehicle maker also named Igor Torgov, a former Arrival executive vice president of its digital business, as chief executive officer, to effect the restructuring. The company also appointed financial advisor Teneo to evaluate strategic initiatives. “When combined with other cost reductions in real estate and third-party spending, the company expects to halve the ongoing cash cost of operating the business to approximately $30 million per quarter,” the company said in a statement. In the company’s third-quarter report released in early November, the company said it had $330 million of cash on hand. The company said it will provide further details of its business plan on March 9. Arrival’s stock closed Friday at 41 cents, giving the company a market capitalization of $258.8 million. while that’s just a fraction of the peak market valuation of $13.31 billion in June 2021, according to FactSet data, it’s up from a trough valuation of $98.8 million in December. The stock has plummeted 87.2% over the past 12 months through Friday, while the S&P 500 ARVL has lost 8.2%.
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