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Sard Verbinnen & Co. handles Luminar Technologies as the leader in light detection and ranging technology for self-driving cars merges with special purpose acquisition company Gores Metropoulos to go public with a listing on the NASDAQ.
The post-deal valuation is $3.4B.
Luminar founder/CEO Austin Russell has inked partnerships with seven of the top ten automakers. The company’s hardware and software will be part of Volvo Cars global platform in 2022.
Russell called the NASDAQ deal a pivotal milestone for his company and the larger auto sector.
He noted that when Luminar launched in 2012, it “took on a problem to which most thought there would be no technically or commercially viable solution.”
Based in Palo Alto, Luminar has 350 people working in Orlando, Colorado Springs, Detroit and Munich.
Sard Verbinnen’s John Christiansen and Cassandra Bujarski represent Luminar, while Sitrick And Company’s Tom Becker handles The Gores Group.
Joele Frank represents Confluent Inc. as the Mountain View, CA-based data streaming platform company agrees to be acquired by IBM in a deal with an enterprise value of $11B.
Tom Johnson, who has headed H/Advisors Abernathy since 2016, will join FGS Global as global head of private capital & financial services, effective Dec. 16.
Brunswick Group and Gagnier Communications are handling Paramount’s $30 cash per-share offer for all of Warner Bros Discovery, topping Netflix $27.50 cash/stock transaction.
ICR Inc. handles communications for Enhanced Ltd, which plans to run Olympic-type competitions with athletes using performance-enhancing drugs, as it goes public in a SPAC deal valued at $1.2B via a merger with A Paradise Acquisition Corp. of Hong Kong.
C Street Advisory Group handles strategic communications duties for American Signature Inc. as the Columbus-based home furnishings retailer declares Chapter 11.
