Reuters, December 13-The company said on Monday that Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycle division will go public through a merger with a blank check company in a transaction valued at $1.77 billion because the 118-year-old brand is betting on young customers To increase sales.

The company launched LiveWire earlier this year, hoping to regain lost market share as its core baby boomer customer base ages and interest in motorcycles fades as entertainment activities fade.

The broader awareness of climate change also paves the way for automakers to switch to greener cars. As fund managers increasingly consider ESG policies in their investments, valuations have risen.

Harley is the latest company to profit from rising valuations of electric car manufacturers. Last month, the Amazon-backed electric car manufacturer Rivian was valued at more than $100 billion when it went public, surpassing Ford and General Motors.

Roth Capital analyst Craig Owen said: "If anything underscores what we have been saying for a long time. Detroit, wake up! The train has left the station! Electric cars are inevitable."

"Many traditional OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) with emerging electric vehicle businesses can obviously carry out similar spin-off transactions," Irving added.

Harley’s stock price rose 11.3% in premarket trading, while AEA-Bridges’ stock price rose 3.4%.

After the transaction is completed, Harley's CEO Jochen Zeitz will serve as LiveWire's chairman for up to two years. In the investor introduction, LiveWire predicts that by 2026, the sales of electric bicycles will reach 100,961 units.

Harley-Davidson will retain 74% of the company, which is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the code "LVW". ABIC shareholders will own approximately 17% of the shares. (Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bangalore, additional reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Sweta Singh, and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)