Ares Acquisition Corporation II (AACT) News

At the extraordinary general meeting of the Company to be held at 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on April 22, 2025 (the “Shareholder Meeting”), the Company’s shareholders will be asked to vote on a proposal to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Memorandum and Articles of Association”) to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate a business combination from April 25, 2025 to January 26, 2026 (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”).


Item 3.02 Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities.

In connection with the Extension Amendment Proposal, the Sponsor has announced its intention to convert its 12,500,000 Class B Ordinary Shares into 12,500,000 Class A Ordinary Shares prior to or concurrently with the approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal.

DEFA14A

04/16/2025
https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/html?id=18372294&guid=lrh-kKRdcsWWdth

4/14/25 | Briefing.com

Kodiak's AI-powered autonomous platform is built to handle some of the world's toughest trucking jobs and has logged over 2.6 million autonomous miles in real-world conditions. Kodiak has the first publicly-announced driverless trucks in commercial operations and has strong customer traction across multiple target applications in an estimated $4+ trillion total addressable market Generates recurring revenue through driverless operations in the Permian Basin and autonomously delivering goods daily for customers in locations around the U.S. Kodiak has secured a firm commitment from its strategic partner, Atlas Energy Solutions (AESI), for an initial order of 100 trucks Transaction places a pre-money equity value on Kodiak of approximately $2.5 billion, with existing Kodiak equity holders rolling 100% of their interests into the combined company. New and existing Kodiak institutional investors including Soros Fund Management, ARK Investments and Ares have funded or committed over $110 million in financing to support the transaction alongside approximately $551 million of cash held in trust. Additionally, existing Kodiak investor ARK Investments has expressed its continued support of Kodiak. Kodiak was featured in ARK's Big Ideas 2025 report.


Ares Acquisition Corporation II: Kodiak Robotics and Ares Acquisition Corporation II enter into a definitive business combination agreement through which Kodiak will become a publicly-listed company

Latest News https://kodiak.ai/news

Kodiak’s Post 2 months ago

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kodiakrobotics_kodiak-first-customer-owned-driverless-fleet-activity-7290045506616016896-1GYe

FreightWaves TruckTech - https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kodiak-robotics-strikes-first-in-the-driverless-truck-commercialization-race

Bloomberg - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-01-24/why-autonomous-vehicles-could-b[…]OTMzRjFGMDlFOSJ9.GSJUaTzTtIrvC1CBabv2vZOEZCfoXiccol0FBbkBHRk

TechCrunch - https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/24/kodiak-has-made-its-first-driverless-truck-deliveries-to-customer-atlas-energy/

Atlas Energy Solutions RoboTruck fleet

Jan 24, 2025
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250124827599/en/Kodiak-Delivers-Customer-Owned-Autonomous-RoboTrucks-to-Atlas-Energy-Solutions-Completes-100-Loads-of-Proppant-with-First-Ever-Driverless-Commercial-Semi-Truck-Service

Kodiak has secured a firm commitment from its strategic partner, Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE: AESI), for an initial order of 100 trucks

Apr 14, 2025
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kodiak-a-leading-provider-of-ai-powered-autonomous-vehicle-technology-to-go-public-via-business-combination-with-ares-acquisition-corporation-ii-302427427.html



Atlas Energy Begins Driverless Truck Deliveries to Wells
January 28, 2025

“Incorporating these driverless RoboTrucks into our operations is a significant advancement in the automation of our business, enhancing our ability to maintain a fundamentally safe and reliable service at the best price for our customers,” Atlas CEO John Turner said.

“Becoming the first company to operate our own autonomous semi-trucks and reaching 100 successful autonomous proppant deliveries demonstrates our unique commitment to driving innovation and automation across the Permian Basin’s rugged terrain, dust and heat,” Turner added.
https://www.ttnews.com/articles/atlas-driverless-trucks-kodiak

Set forth below is a transcript of the investor webcast held on April 14, 2025 announcing the proposed business combination

https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/html?id=18368225&guid=HOh-kW3a1Bz5DYh

425
04/14/2025
https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/html?id=18368225&guid=HOh-kW3a1Bz5DYh

Ares Management Corporation’s Post

21hours ago
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ares-management_we-are-excited-to-share-that-ares-acquisition-activity-7317550083711918081-hpMh


Ares Management Corporation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_Management

The Business Combination is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

425
04/14/2025
https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/html?id=18365889&guid=HOh-kW3a1Bz5DYh

Kodiak’s Post 22 hours ago

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kodiakrobotics_kodiak-is-entering-the-next-phase-of-growth-activity-7317522153636089858-z6Yy

Kodiak, a Leading Provider of AI-Powered Autonomous Vehicle Technology, to Go Public Via Business Combination With Ares Acquisition Corporation II

Apr 14, 2025
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kodiak-a-leading-provider-of-ai-powered-autonomous-vehicle-technology-to-go-public-via-business-combination-with-ares-acquisition-corporation-ii-302427427.html

Extension Amendment Proposal

PRE 14A
03/05/2025
https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/html?id=18259909&guid=AcB-kHjxlIwfJth

03/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Ares Acquisition Corp. II (AACT) is in the late stage of talks to merge with autonomous trucking company Kodiak Robotics, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

A potential transaction may value the combined entity at $2 billion, the report said.

The transaction may fall through, and other bidders are involved in merger talks, the report said.

Ares declined to comment, Bloomberg said.

Ares and Kodiak didn't immediately reply to requests for comment from MT Newswires.


Market Chatter: Ares Acquisition in Talks to Merge with Kodiak Robotics
2:32 PM ET 3/11/25 | MT Newswires
Market Chatter: Ares Acquisition in Talks to Merge with Kodiak Robotics

https://kodiak.ai/

Ares Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE:AACT) is in discussions to merge with Kodiak Robotics, an autonomous trucking startup.
A deal may value the combined company at about $2 billion, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, which cited people familiar with the matter. The Ares SPAC was competing for a deal for the trucking startup with other potential buyers.
A deal hasn't been reached and terms could still change, or talks could fall apart.
Ares declined to comment to Bloomberg and Kodiak didn't respond to request for comment.
Shares of Ares Acquisition (NYSE:AACT) ticked higher by 0.2%.