Velodyne Lidar and Graf Industrial Corp. Announce Business Combination to Form Leading Publicly-Traded Lidar Technology Company
– Velodyne, the world’s leading lidar technology company, to combine with Graf Industrial Corp.
– Combined company will remain on the NYSE and trade under a new ticker symbol VLDR following the close of the business combination.
– Pro forma implied market capitalization of the combined company expected to be approximately $1.8 billion.
– Transaction supported by a $150 million committed PIPE and is expected to leave Velodyne with approximately $200 million of cash on its balance sheet.
– Net proceeds from the combination will primarily remain on the balance sheet to enhance financial flexibility, support growth and fund selective acquisition opportunities to further expand market leadership.
– David Hall will continue to play a critical role as executive chairman of Velodyne. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Anand Gopalan and Chief Financial Officer Drew Hamer will lead and manage the business along with Mr. Hall. Chief Marketing Officer Marta Hall will continue to support and elevate the brand.
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HOUSTON, July 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Graf Industrial Corp. (“GRAF”) (NYSE: GRAF, GRAF.U, GRAF WS), a special purpose acquisition company founded by James Graf and Michael Dee, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (“Velodyne” or the “Company”) and its founder David Hall, pursuant to which GRAF will combine with Velodyne through a merger of a wholly-owned subsidiary of GRAF with and into Velodyne, with Velodyne surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of GRAF. Current Velodyne shareholders, including David Hall and strategic investors Ford, Baidu, Inc., Nikon Corporation and Hyundai Mobis, will retain an equity interest of more than 80% in the combined company. Upon the closing of the transaction, GRAF will be renamed “Velodyne Lidar, Inc.” and will remain NYSE-listed under the new ticker symbol VLDR.
