Quanergy Systems, a US-based lidar sensor provider backed by corporates Samsung, Delphi Automotive and Sensata Technologies, agreed yesterday to a reverse takeover with special purpose acquisition company Citic Capital Acquisition Corp (CACC).
The merged business will take the New York Stock Exchange listing acquired by CACC in a $240m initial public offering in February 2020, and will have an implied equity value of $1.4bn. It will be buoyed by $40m private investment in public equity financing from unnamed investors.
Quanergy produces smart 3D lidar sensors to help automotive and internet-of-things systems detect surrounding objects. It has more than 350 customers and will use the proceeds from the deal for research and development (R&D), working capital and clearing its outstanding debt.
The company secured $20m in equity funding and $25.5m in convertible note financing in November 2018, according to securities filings, the same month it revealed it had raised an undisclosed amount of series C funding from unnamed investors at a $2bn valuation.
Samsung Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of electronics producer Samsung, had joined consulting firm Lahlouh, Newbury Ventures, TEEC Angel Fund, San Feliu Partners and Markis to supply $4.5m in seed capital for Quanergy prior to its $30m series A round in 2014.
The series A funding came from Rising Tide Fund, Wicklow Capital, Motus Ventures and Wardenclyffe Partners. Quanergy added $90m from Samsung Ventures, sensor and control technology manufacturer Sensata, automotive components producer Delphi, Motus Ventures and GP Capital in a 2016 series B round.
Automotive manufacturers Daimler and Geely have also been identified as investors in the company, through media reports.
Kevin J. Kennedy, Quanergy’s chairman and CEO, said: “The market for data-rich 3D perception enabled by lidar has reached an inflection point of growth and scale. In the last 12 months, a vibrant public lidar sector has been established.
“With this proposed transaction, Quanergy will benefit from expanding investor interest in the lidar sector, while also providing additional growth capital to further scale our R&D investments to serve multiple new markets with more capable and cost-efficient products.”
Image courtesy of Quanergy Systems.
