SPAC Colonnade Shoots Up 40% On Report Of Merger Deal With Lidar Startup Ouster

Special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Colonnade Acquisition Corp CLA is valuing lidar technology startup Ouster Inc at $1.9 billion in a merger deal, Reuters reports.

What Happened: Outster plans to go public through the merger deal that could be announced as soon as Tuesday.

The startup's lidar technology is used in self-driving vehicles for creating a 3D map of the environment. It is also said to have applications in designing smart cities, robotics, and drones.

As per Crunchbase, since its inception in 2015, Ouster has raised $132 million from 11 investors.

Colonnade in its initial public offering in August raised $200 million. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at the time, the company said — while the management team possessed expertise in sectors like natural resources, energy, real estate, and agricultural industries — it was open to a business combination in any business or industry.

The SPAC said it would target companies in the U.S., U.K., or Asia, with a current enterprise value between $600 million to $1 billion.

Why Does It Matter: This year, Outster is the fifth company in the lidar technology business to opt for a merger with a blank check company, following Velodyne Lidar Inc VLDR, Luminar Technologies Inc LAZR, Innoviz Technologies Inc, and Aeva Inc.

The Lidar stocks gained momentum on Tuesday after a Reuters report said Apple Inc AAPL plans to launch self-driving electric vehicles by 2024. Luminar was up 27.26% during regular trading hours. Velodyne gained 22.97% in the regular session and an additional 8.10% in the after-hours.

Price Action: Colonnade stock rallied by 40.87% in the after-hours session Monday at $14.20, after a 0.3% uptick during the regular session.

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