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

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

May 26 (Reuters) – ECARX Holdings, a Chinese auto tech startup backed by Geely Holding Group’s chairman, on Thursday stated it would go public by a merger with a blank-check organization in a deal 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 around the latter’s demand from customers for complete access to the publications of U.S-shown Chinese corporations.

The offer with COVA Acquisition Corp (COVA.O) incorporates a $45 million financial commitment from mobility tech enterprise Geely, lidar sensor maker Luminar Technologies Inc (LAZR.O) and automotive organization Lotus Technology.

Luminar CEO Austin Russell instructed Reuters that the California-centered startup will be investing $15 million in ECARX in a bid to split into the Chinese car or truck marketplace, the world’s major, and faucet customers this kind of as Geely.

“As points are productive, I never think it would be astonishing if we ultimately collaborate even a lot more, devote even much more, as this partnership scales,” he advised Reuters.

With facilities in China and Europe, ECARX focuses on technology made use of in vehicle chips, superior-definition maps and sensible autos. The enterprise was established by Ziyu Shen, its chief government officer, and Li Shufu, Geely’s chairman, in 2017.

The planned listing is also supported by $300 million elevated by COVA in its first community presenting (IPO) in February previous yr.

A blank-look at agency, or a specific intent acquisition company (SPAC), is a detailed shell entity that uses the dollars raised in its IPO to merge with a non-public company, having it general public in the method.

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

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