Nikola adjourns shareholder meeting, still short of support share issuance

Electric-truck maker Nikola Corp. adjourned its shareholder meeting for a second time to July 18 after a key proposal failed to pass, the company said Thursday. Nikola has sought to increase its authorized number of shares to 800 million, from the about 600 million it has, potentially to raise capital. Of those 600 million shares, about 567 million shares are either issued or reserved for future issuance, Nikola said. Increasing the number would provide “flexibility to support the growth of the business,” the EV maker said. “Nikola stockholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposal 2, with the exception of the vote of a stockholder who appears to represent more than 85% of the votes against Proposal 2,” the company said without identifying the shareholder. Founder and former Chairman Trevor Milton has been reported as voting against the share issuance. Milton is Nikola’s top shareholder, with a 11.7% stake, according to FactSet. Milton stepped down from the company in September 2020 after a short seller accused Nikola of misleading investors about the capabilities of a prototype, which the company denied.

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