Canoo soars 20% on report that Apple held talks last year with the EV startup on potential investment

• Canoo soared as much as 20% after it was revealed that the company held talks with Apple in 2020 about being acquired or receiving an investment from the iPhone maker, according to a report from The Verge.
• The potential deal with Apple ultimately fell apart and Canoo instead went public via a SPAC.
• Apple is reportedly accelerating the internal development of its own internal electric vehicle and could target a release in 2025.
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Canoo jumped as much as 20% on Wednesday following a report from The Verge that said the electric vehicle startup held talks with Apple in the first half of 2020 about a potential investment or acquisition.

Ultimately, the talks surrounding the deal fell apart and Canoo eventually went public via a SPAC. Canoo was more interested in taking an investment from Apple, and Apple was reportedly interested in Canoo's scalable electric vehicle platform, called the "skateboard."

In a statement to The Verge, Canoo said, "Canoo doesn't openly comment on strategic discussions, relationships or partnerships unless deemed appropriate." Apple has been advancing its own internal development of electric vehicles and could target a 2025 release, according to a Reuters report from late last year. Reuters also reported that Apple is working on a "beta" vehicle with Hyundai of South Korea.

While a deal between Canoo and Apple does not appear imminent, the EV company said in a recent SEC filing that it is "currently in discussions with multiple other blue-chip industry participants interested in leveraging Canoo's technologies and engineering expertise for their own commercial products."

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