Credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGARAdds details on the deal, share movement
Aug 24 (Reuters) - Autonomous vehicle startup Luminar Technologies Inc said on Monday it would go public through a merger with blank-check firm Gores Metropoulos Inc GMHI.OGMHIU.O for about $3.4 billion.
The deal includes $400 million of cash from Gores Metropoulos and $170 million financing into Luminar by investors including tech billionaire Peter Thiel, GoPro Inc GPRO.O founder Nick Woodman and Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
Luminar makes lidar sensors and software for autonomous vehicles. Lidar sensors, which use laser light pulses to render precise images of the environment around the car, are seen as essential by many automakers to allow higher levels of driver assistance right up to making them capable of self-driving.
The combined company will retain the name Luminar Technologies Inc and list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "LAZR."
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, the company said.
Deutsche Bank Securities is the financial adviser to Gores, while GCA Advisors LLC and Jefferies Group LLC are advising Luminar.
Shares of the blank check company jumped about 26% in premarket trade.
Volvo Cars said in May it struck a deal with the Silicon Valley-based start-up to integrate its technology in its new car platform from 2022.
(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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