Aerofarms, the US-based urban farm operator backed by Ingka Group, the parent company of furniture retailer Ikea, has agreed a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Spring Valley Acquisition Corp.
The transaction will involve Aerofarms taking the position on the Nasdaq Capital Market obtained by Spring Valley in a $200m initial public offering in October 2020.
The combined company is raising $125m in private investment in public equity financing from unnamed institutional investors and AeroFarms insiders as well as Spring Valley’s sponsor, energy investment firm Pearl Energy Investments, at an estimated value of $1.2bn.
Founded in 2004, Aerofarms uses vertical farming methods to produce leafy vegetables 12 months a year while using 95% less water and no pesticides. Its last funding was in April 2020 when it was one of four companies to receive a total of $100m from Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
Ingka had led the company’s $100m series E round in July 2019 at a $500m post-money valuation, participating alongside Wheatsheaf Investments, ADM Capital, Mission Point Capital, GSR Ventures and AllianceBernstein.
Aerofarms closed its series D round in 2017, securing $40m from Ingka Group, ADM Capital’s Cibus Fund, Wheatsheaf Investments, GSR Ventures, Alliance Bernstein and Meraas.
Wheatsheaf Investments, GSR Ventures, MissionPoint Capital Partners and Middleland Capital had supplied $20m for the company two years earlier. It had previously raised a total of $36m as of 2014, according to Bloomberg.
