Thor Industries announced that it had invested strategically in Dragonfly Energy, a deep cycle lithium-ion battery producer for the RV industry.
In May 2022, Dragonfly entered into a merger agreement for a business combination transaction with Chardan NexTech Acquisition 2 Corp.
“Our investment in Dragonfly furthers Thor’s dedication to continuously improving the user experience of Thor RVers by providing them a best-in-class energy storage solution that enables RVers to boondock and camp off the grid. Dragonfly has been a valued partner to one of our largest and most successful North American RV companies, Keystone RV, a Thor operating company. The proven success of the products in the field and synergistic value-add relationship made this investment important to us,” said Bob Martin, president and CEO, Thor Industries.
“As we discussed at our recent investor day, Thor is acutely focused on aligning with leading technology companies in the RV space. Dragonfly has demonstrated its leadership in the crucial Lithium-ion battery supply. The leadership team at Dragonfly has demonstrated the success of its operations model that focuses on inventory management and domestic production, thereby reducing supply chain risk. Keystone currently enjoys an exclusive relationship with Dragonfly for certain battery brands that, in time, will expand to an exclusive relationship across the entire family of Thor brands. In addition to a potential strong financial return on our investment, our equity position creates the opportunity for agreed exclusivity and co-development rights in RV industry-specific applications of lithium-ion energy storage solutions. The relationship also furthers our ESG commitment as Dragonfly’s patented all-solid-state cell technology is positioned to enable a more sustainable and reliable smart energy grid. As we forge ahead, our strategic partnership with Dragonfly will allow for meaningful engagement with its leadership to ensure long-term alignment of a crucial element of our supply chain with Thor’s strategic vision and to provide one of many building blocks to a comprehensive aftermarket strategy,” added Todd Woelfer, Thor’s Chief Operating Officer.
Thor’s equity investment is complete and is being made ahead of Dragonfly’s previously announced business combination with Chardan NexTech Acquisition 2 Corp.
Funding of the business combination includes a $75 million senior secured term loan for which Energy Impact Partners, the lead arranger; a $5 million equity investment from Chardan NexTech Investments 2, LLC; and a $150 million Chardan Equity Facility (ChEFTM) from Chardan, an affiliate of CNTQ’s sponsor.
