TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 22, 2021 / Hamilton Chukyo Brokerage has today said that electric passenger aircraft developer Joby Aero Inc is negotiating a deal to go public via a merger with a blank-check acquisition company with a valuation estimated to be around $5 billion.
"Joby has engaged investment banks to explore interest from special purpose acquisition companies, SPAC's, about a potential deal," said Michael Williams, Head of Private Wealth Management at Hamilton Chukyo Brokerage.
Joby has created a zero-emissions, all-electric, vertical aircraft which it has scheduled for launch as an air-taxi service by 2023. Last month, the Santa Cruz, California-based firm agreed to take over Elevate, the flying taxi subsidiary of Uber Technologies Inc. Uber took a stake in Joby as part of the agreement.
"Since its founding in 2009, Joby has raised over $800 million in private funding, and in 2020 the company was valued at $2.6 billion," said Anthony Roberts, Head of Institutional Trading at Hamilton Chukyo Brokerage. "Joby's backers include Intel Corp and Toyota Motor Corp," he added.
A SPAC is a "blank check" shell corporation designed to take companies public without going through the traditional IPO process. SPACs enable retail investors to invest in private equity-type transactions, particularly leveraged buyouts.
Last year, SPACs emerged as one of the most popular investment vehicles on Wall Street.
According to data gathered by Hamilton Chukyo Brokerage, a deal for Joby would come quickly on the heels of another SPAC deal in the same sector. Air taxi firm Blade Urban Air Mobility agreed to merge with Blade, Experience Investment Corp last month, boosting the latter company's shares by 50%.
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SOURCE: Hamilton Chukyo Brokerage