Nikola pushes shareholder meeting, seeks investor approval to increase shares

(Reuters) -Nikola Corp on Thursday adjourned its shareholder meeting for the second time this month, moving it to July 18 to allow more time to get shareholder approval to raise the number of shares outstanding in the electric vehicle maker.

The meeting was first adjourned on June 1 after the Chairman Stephen Girsky urged voters to authorize an increase in shares by 200 million to 800 million.

The company said 48% of all outstanding shares have been voted in favor of the proposal, still 2% short for it to pass. Over 112 million shares have not yet been voted on, it added.

Nikola said that the increase in the total shares would provide flexibility to support the growth of the business.

Founder and former Chief Executive and Chairman, Trevor Milton, on June 1 voted against the proposal, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Nikola, which started deliveries of its battery electric trucks in April, said that it had about $385 million in cash and had raised $200 million via convertible note issue.

Finance chief Kim Brady said in May that with another $409 million from an equity line, Nikola would have nearly $1 billion on hand to fund expansion and scaling of production for at least another year.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)