Electric vehicle battery maker SES Holdings said on Tuesday that it would go public through a merger with a blank-cheque company in a deal that values the combined entity at $3.6 billion.
The deal with Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition Corp will fetch $476 million in proceeds for SES, including a private investment in public equity (PIPE) of $200 million from General Motors Co, Hyundai Motor Co Geely Holding Group and others.
Founded in 2012 as a company spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SES operates two battery-prototyping facilities in the United States and China.
Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are shell companies that raise funds through an initial public offering to take a private company public through a merger at a later date.
Ivanhoe raised $276 million in its initial public offering, which was completed in January.
The merger is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter this year, after which the combined company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SES“.
Reuters