EV truck maker Nikola to pull the plug on battery supplier Romeo

(Reuters) - Nikola Corp will start liquidating the assets of battery maker Romeo Power, the electric truck maker said on Monday, less than a year after buying it.

The company, which went public in 2020, has struggled to keep up with high expectations of early investors, amid inflated costs of commodities and tight access to capital over the past year.

Nikola in August agreed to buy Romeo Power for about $144 million in stock, as it looked to jump-start efforts to make battery packs.

"Nikola is discontinuing its operations with Romeo Power and has commenced a proceeding under the California Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) statutory scheme," a company spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

Nikola's struggles mirror those at many other EV startups. British EV van maker Arrival earlier in the day said it planned to terminate its merger with a blank-check firm, while Lordstown Motors last week announced filing for bankruptcy.

In contrast, market leader Tesla topped market expectations for second-quarter deliveries, after price cuts and U.S. federal credits helped make its electric vehicles more affordable.

Romeo Power is one of the battery suppliers for Nikola's prototype electric trucks along with LG Energy Solution and Proterra Inc.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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