Israeli chipmaker Valens Semiconductor has announced that it has completed its SPAC merger with PTK Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: PTK) and the company's shares are set to begin trading on Wall Street later today. But like the shares of the other three Israeli auto-tech companies who have completed SPAC mergers, investors have given Valens a relatively cool reception.
The company's valuation has been set at $1.1 billion and the amount raised has been cut from $240 million to $155 million, indicating that many of the shareholders in PTK preferred to pull out of the SPAC merger, and receive their investment back. PTK's share price fell 18.8% on Wednesday.
Valens was founded in 2006 by Dror Jerushalmi, Massad Eyal, Eyran Lida, Gaby Gur Cohen, Nadav Banet, and Alon Benzaray and is currently led by CEO Gideon Ben-Zvi. Investors include Israel Growth Partners (IGP), Genesis, Magma, Mitsui Global, Oppenheimer, Delphi, and Samsung Catalyst.
Unlike the other Israeli auto-tech companies, which held SPAC mergers, Valens does not work solely in auto-tech. The company's chips provide high-speed connectivity solutions for the audio-video and automotive markets. Revenue in 2020 was $57 million with negative EBITDA of $16 million. The company is expected to report positive EBITDA in 2024.
Valens CEO Gideon Ben-Zvi said, "As the leader in high-speed digital connectivity, Valens’ transition to the public markets marks an important milestone in our corporate journey and enhances our ability to expand our high-speed, reliable connectivity solutions to several large and fast-growing markets. Valens’ chipsets are already embedded in Daimler Mercedes-Benz vehicles, and our technology was selected as the baseline for the new automotive standard for high-speed in-vehicle connectivity. Becoming a public company provides us with new sources of capital to accelerate our growth and advance our position as a leading global provider of semiconductors for high-speed connectivity solutions for the automotive, audio-video, and other adjacent markets."
The other three Israeli auto-tech companies have lost 50% of their value since they began trading on Wall Street, wiping off close to $3 billion from their combined market caps. Otonomo Technologies (Nasdaq: OTMO), which has developed a commercial arena for data collected by connected cars, has lost 52% of its value since it began trading in August and currently has a market cap of $611 million. REE Automotive Ltd. (Nasdaq: REE), which has developed an electric vehicle platform, has lost 49% of its value and currently has a market cap of $1.6 billion, and Innoviz Technologies (Nasdaq: INVZ), which has developed lidar sensors, has lost 46% of its value and currently has a market cap of $761 million.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 30, 2021
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