Self-Driving Tech Startup Aeva Going Public Through SPAC InterPrivate

By Colin Kellaher

Aeva Inc., a self-driving technology startup backed by German automaker Porsche SE, on Monday unveiled plans to go public by combining with blank-check company InterPrivate Acquisition Corp.

The deal, which gives the combined company an estimated post-transaction equity value of about $2.1 billion, will provide Aeva with $363 million in gross proceeds, including InterPrivate's $243 million held in trust and a $120 million from a private placement that will include investments from Porsche and Adage Capital.

The companies said Aeva's current investors, which also include Lux Capital, Canaan Partners and Lockheed Martin Corp., will retain their equity holdings and own about 80% of the combined company.

Aeva puts sensor components on small chips in a bid to reduce the size and cost of roof rack-style lidar sensors, which help cars drive autonomously by bouncing lasers off objects to create a 3-D view of the world. Porsche SE, which houses automakers such as Volkswagen AG, Porsche AG and Audi AG, acquired a minority stake in the Mountain View, Calif., startup last year.

Aeva, founded in 2017 by a pair of former Apple Inc. engineers, will remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AEVA upon completion of the transaction, expected in the first quarter of 2021.

InterPrivate, a special-purpose acquisition company, completed its $240 million initial public offering in February.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 02, 2020 10:24 ET (15:24 GMT)

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