According to Forbes, Nikola will finance Romeo Power with an additional 35 million USD in order to stabilize the operations of the battery manufacturer until the deal will be closed.

As Nikola is Romeo's main customer, Mark Russell, the CEO of the truck making company, says that "part of this is defensive, to make sure nothing disruptive happens here. But the real motivation is strategic: we're taking control of our battery destiny and bringing this in-house."

Earlier this year, Nikola announced that it began the production of Tre, the company's electric truck, at the Coolidge facility, in Arizona.

Even following the acquisition of Romeo, Nikola will get some of the battery packs from Proterra, an American electric bus and truck manufacturer.

By integrating Romeo Power in its operations, Nikola hopes to reduce battery pack costs by as much as 40%, which means that the company should save around 350 million USD by 2026.

Photo source: Nikola