BlackRock invests $118 million in UK electric vehicle startup Arrival

(Reuters) - British electric vehicle startup Arrival said on Wednesday it has raised $118 million from U.S. funds manager BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK).

Five-year-old Arrival is focused on development of electric commercial vehicles, including vans and buses. It previously had raised $111 million from Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS> and sister company Kia Motors Corp <000270.KS>, as well as an undisclosed amount from United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS).

Before the latest funding round, Arrival was valued at $3.3 billion by investor website PitchBook.

Arrival has an order for 10,000 electric delivery vans from UPS, with an option for another 10,000.

It is positioned as a potential rival to U.S. startup Rivian, which is backed by Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), among others, and is building 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon.

BlackRock also is backing Rivian.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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