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

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

May 26 (Reuters) – ECARX Holdings, a Chinese car tech startup backed by Geely Holding Group’s chairman, on Thursday mentioned it would go public through a merger with a blank-examine business in a offer 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 in excess of the latter’s demand from customers for total obtain to the textbooks of U.S-outlined Chinese businesses.

The offer with COVA Acquisition Corp (COVA.O) contains a $45 million investment decision from mobility tech corporation Geely, lidar sensor maker Luminar Systems Inc (LAZR.O) and automotive business Lotus Technological innovation.

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Luminar CEO Austin Russell instructed Reuters that the California-centered startup will be investing $15 million in ECARX in a bid to break into the Chinese vehicle market place, the world’s largest, and tap customers these types of as Geely.

“As factors are successful, I will not assume it would be stunning if we finally collaborate even additional, invest even additional, as this partnership scales,” he informed Reuters.

With amenities in China and Europe, ECARX focuses on technological innovation used in auto chips, significant-definition maps and good vehicles. The organization was launched by Ziyu Shen, its chief government officer, and Li Shufu, Geely’s chairman, in 2017.

The planned listing is also supported by $300 million raised by COVA in its preliminary public supplying (IPO) in February very last 12 months.

A blank-look at agency, or a unique intent acquisition corporation (SPAC), is a detailed shell entity that employs the money raised in its IPO to merge with a private organization, using it general public in the process.

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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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