Uber-Backed Joby Aviation to Combine With SPAC Reinvent Technology
February 24 2021 - 9:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
Joby Aviation, an electric-aircraft startup backed by Uber
Technologies Inc., on Wednesday unveiled plans to go public through
a combination with Reinvent Technology Partners, a blank-check
company backed by technology veterans Reid Hoffman and Mark
Pincus.
The companies said the deal gives Joby a combined post-money
equity value of $6.6 billion and will provide roughly $1.6 billion
in gross proceeds, including $690 million from Reinvent and an $835
million private placement at $10 a share with investors including
Baupost Group, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Fidelity
Management & Research LLC and Baillie Gifford.
Joby, which plans to operate an air-taxi service starting in
2024 with an electric-powered vehicle similar to a helicopter, last
year received investments of $125 million from Uber and acquired
Uber Elevate, the ride-share giant's division focused on the aerial
market.
Mr. Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn and Mr. Pincus, the
founder and chairman of videogame company Zynga Inc., last year
teamed with hedge-fund manager Michael Thompson to launch Reinvent
amid a record boom in special-purpose acquisition companies.
Mr. Hoffman will join the board of the combined company, to be
named Joby Aviation, upon completion of the transaction, slated for
the second quarter.
Shares of Reinvent, which closed Tuesday at $12.94, rose more
than 16% in premarket trading Wednesday.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 24, 2021 09:15 ET (14:15 GMT)
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