Taiwan’s largest motorbike brand KYMCO and American motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson have partnered on the development of electric motorcycles. On Dec. 13, Harley-Davidson announced a plan to list its electric motorcycle division LiveWire on the New York Stock Exchange through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), with KYMCO and Harley-Davidson each investing US$100 million under their agreement. Once the transaction is finalized, KYMCO is expected to own a 4 percent stake in LiveWire and play a role as a strategic partner.  Once the deal is completed, LiveWire will become the first publicly traded electric motorcycle company in the USA, with an estimated post-money valuation of $2.3 billion.

With a number of products in LiveWire’s pipeline, KYMCO’s entry should help the brand crack the Eurasian markets where it has a strong footing. The press release mentions that LiveWire will benefit from the engineering expertise, manufacturing footprint, distribution, supply chain infrastructure, and global logistics capabilities of both Harley-Davidson and KYMCO. Additionally, KYMCO is already manufacturing and selling electric scooters in Eurasian markets, and perhaps, these could be tweaked, rebranded, and sold under the LiveWire brand.