Rodgers Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: RSVA) has agreed to a business combination with Enovix, maker of an advanced lithium-ion battery that the company claims has “energy densities five years ahead of current industry production.” The agreement puts an enterprise value of more than $1.1 billion on Enovix.
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RSVA is a blank-check company that came public in December. Board Chair and CEO T.J. Rodgers founded Cypress Semiconductor in 1982. The chipmaker was acquired last year by German technology firm Infineon for more than $9 billion. While Rodgers was chief executive at Cypress, the company acquired solar energy company SunPower prior to its 2005 IPO. Rodgers was chair of SunPower’s board from 2002 to 2011.
According to Monday’s announcement, Enovix is expected to receive about $385 million in net cash following the combination. The payout includes $230 million currently held in trust by RSVA and $175 million in a concurrent private investment in public equity offering of stock at $14 per share. RSVA shares closed at $15.75 on Friday and traded up more than 70% Monday morning.
Commenting on the deal, Rodgers, who is also a board member of Enovix, noted:
Every chemistry professor has a better battery idea in his notebook. But only Enovix is building a world-class fab for actually putting a high-energy density silicon anode battery into the hands of the world’s leading technology companies. The company will have a big impact on products in mobile computing, wearables, and ultimately electric vehicles.
Enovix CEO and co-founder Harrold Rust added:
Today, we stand at the threshold of producing the first advanced silicon-anode lithium-ion battery for mass-market applications from our U.S. manufacturing facility. … We are excited to partner with the accomplished team at [RSVA] who understand that the success of any advanced product is the ability to produce it at scale.
The transaction (a reverse merger) is expected to be completed in the second quarter and requires approval by shareholders in both Enovix and RSVA. When the deal is finished, RSVA will change its name to Enovix Corporation and continue to trade on the Nasdaq under a new ticker symbol: ENVX.
The popularity of blank-check, or special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), reverse mergers has exploded. According to data compiled by Stock Analysis, there were 480 U.S. initial public offerings in 2020. As of last Friday, there have been 220 IPOS (mostly of SPACs) so far this year. Of the 31 IPOs that completed on February 12, 25 were SPAC IPOs.
At last look, RSVA traded up about 74%, at $27.40 in a post-IPO range of $11.79 to 28.50. The high was posted earlier Monday morning.
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