Car tech firm ECARX to go public in $3.8 bln blank-check deal

U.S. just one greenback banknotes are seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

May well 26 (Reuters) – ECARX Holdings, a Chinese car tech startup backed by Geely Holding Group’s chairman, on Thursday explained it would go general public through a merger with a blank-check out organization in a offer that values it at $3.82 billion.

Chinese listings in the United States have been frozen for months, as Beijing and U.S. regulators have been locked in a dispute more than the latter’s demand for full entry to the textbooks of U.S-listed Chinese providers.

The deal with COVA Acquisition Corp (COVA.O) features a $45 million expense from mobility tech corporation Geely, lidar sensor maker Luminar Technologies Inc (LAZR.O) and automotive corporation Lotus Technology.

Luminar CEO Austin Russell told Reuters that the California-dependent startup will be investing $15 million in ECARX in a bid to crack into the Chinese motor vehicle market place, the world’s largest, and faucet shoppers these kinds of as Geely.

“As things are profitable, I never imagine it would be stunning if we in the long run collaborate even far more, spend even additional, as this partnership scales,” he advised Reuters.

With amenities in China and Europe, ECARX focuses on technological innovation made use of in automobile chips, superior-definition maps and sensible motor vehicles. The firm was started by Ziyu Shen, its chief government officer, and Li Shufu, Geely’s chairman, in 2017.

The prepared listing is also supported by $300 million lifted by COVA in its initial community providing (IPO) in February final 12 months.

A blank-check out company, or a distinctive objective acquisition company (SPAC), is a outlined shell entity that utilizes the income lifted in its IPO to merge with a personal firm, having it public in the system.

Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru and Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco Modifying by Shailesh Kuber, Vinay Dwivedi and Mark Porter

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