Israeli digital intelligence company Cellebrite and TWC Tech Holdings II Corp. (Nasdaq: TWCT) today announced the completion of their SPAC merger. The Petah Tikva-based company, which provides digital intelligence solutions to law enforcement agencies and governments, will begin trading on Nasdaq tomorrow under the CLBT ticker. Under the terms of the agreement signed in April, Cellebrite will have a company valuation of $2.4 billion.
The transaction generated $370 million of gross proceeds from the cash held in trust after TWC Tech Holdings stockholder redemptions and the private investment in public equity (PIPE) for the purchase of shares from existing shareholders of Cellebrite who are primarily from early investors in the company. Leading institutional investors, including Light Street Capital and Makena Capital, and strategic investor Axon Enterprise, Inc., participated in the PIPE,
Cellebrite was founded in 2001 by Yaron Baratz, Yuval Aflalo and Avi Yablonka and is managed by CEO Yossi Carmil. In 2007, Japan's Sun Corp. acquired Cellebrite for just $17 million. Carmill has told "Globes" in the past why the company was sold for such a small amount. "The main shareholders, the three founders, wanted to sell. We were sold very cheaply for a company which had grown without raising any external capital. We are a rare story."
In 2019, Israel Growth Partners (IGP) led a $110 million in Cellebrite at a company valuation of $440 million, which was in fact the company's first-ever financing round. As part of the SPAC merger, IGP's Haim Shani will become Cellebrite's chairman Ryusuke Utsumi will step down but remain on the board.
BofA Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as placement agents to Cellebrite, and TWC Tech Holdings. BofA Securities is also serving as capital markets advisor to TWC Tech Holdings. White & Case LLP and Meitar Law Offices are serving as legal advisors to Cellebrite, while Herzog Fox Neeman will support the SPAC.
Carmil said, "We have achieved an important milestone that advances our strategy to drive value to the investigative lifecycle. We are energized by the significant opportunities to build on our industry-leading position, expand our capabilities and continue to deliver valuable solutions to our broad and growing customer base. I would like to thank True Wind Capital for their support and partnership throughout this process. As a publicly traded company, we believe we are well positioned to help to create a safer world with our Digital Intelligence solutions suite, through the ethical use of our solutions, and to deliver sustainable value for all of our stakeholders."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 30, 2021
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