(Reuters) -Embark Trucks Inc, a self-driving truck technology developer backed by private equity firm Tiger Global Management, will merge with a blank-check firm in a deal valuing the equity of the combined company at about $5.2 billion.
The deal with Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. II will get Embark Trucks about $614 million in cash proceeds, including a $200 million private investment from Mubadala Capital, CPP Investments, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global among others.
Embark said on Wednesday the proceeds were expected to fund its business through 2024.
Embark joins the ranks of Plus and TuSimple, self-driving trucking companies which entered U.S. public markets this year, in a bid to tap the red-hot capital market to commercialize their technology and product.
Northern Genesis 2 is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, the team behind which took electric vehicle firm Lion Electric Co public by merging it with a former SPAC.
SPACs are publicly listed shell companies that raise funds with the intention of taking a private entity public through a merger at a later date.
Citi is advising Embark on the deal, while J.P. Morgan Securities is serving as financial adviser and capital markets adviser to Northern Genesis 2.
(Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
