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Luminar Technologies, a manufacturer of high-performance lidar sensors for autonomous vehicles, has been in the spotlight for quite a while now as the investors of the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), Gores Metropoulos (NASDAQ:GMHI), eagerly waited for the date on which the merger between the two entities would be finalized.
The SPAC afforded clarity on this front today when its revealed via a press statement that its much-anticipated shareholders vote, expected to approve the merger with Luminar, will now take place on the 1st of December 2020:
“[Gores Metropoulos] will hold a Special Meeting in Lieu of the Company’s 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholder at 9:00 a.m., Eastern time, on December 1, 2020.”
As a refresher, Luminar and Gores Metropoulos had entered into a definitive merger agreement on the 24th of August. Once the merger takes effect, the shares of the combined company will trade on the stock exchange under the ticker symbol LAZR. The press statement went on to note:
“… the post-business combination company will have an implied pro forma enterprise value of approximately $2.9 billion and an equity value of approximately $3.4 billion at closing. After giving effect to any redemptions by the public stockholders of the Company, the balance of approximately $400 million cash held in the Company, together with more than $170 million in financing proceeds invested in Luminar in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, will remain in the post-business combination company, a portion of which will be used to pay transaction expenses.”
Additionally, Luminar also revealed today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Daimler Truck AG, the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, “to enable highly automated trucking, starting on highways”. As per the arrangement, Daimler Truck’s experts as well as those at its subsidiaries – Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) and Torc Robotics (part of Daimler Trucks’ Autonomous Technology Group) – will work toward commercializing trucks with SAE Level 4 autonomy – that requires no human intervention – by leveraging and enhancing Luminar’s lidar tech. In order to strengthen this partnership, Daimler has also acquired a minority stake in Luminar.
As per an investor presentation by Luminar in August 2020, Luminar’s proprietary lidar architecture is leagues ahead of other comparable offerings, utilizing an InGaAs Receiver & ASIC (2x) 1550nm Laser Dual-Axis Scanner:
Luminar’s lidar provides a range performance of over 250 meters and a maximum resolution of over 300 pts/deg2 @ 10Hz. Moreover, it also offers a wider field of view.
Crucially, Luminar’s lidar offers full-stack highway autonomy that can be further improved through this collaboration with Daimler.
