Agility Robotics plans to go public via SPAC in a $2.5B deal

In short: Agility Robotics says it plans to become a public company by merging with a SPAC, in a deal valuing it at about $2.5 billion.

What happened

Agility Robotics, a company that builds human-shaped robots, said it plans to go public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI. A SPAC is a “blank check” company that already trades on the stock market and is set up to merge with a private company (like using an existing shell to speed up the listing process).

Agility says the deal should bring in more than $620 million. That includes about $200 million from a group of new and existing large investors.

The company is best known for Digit, a two-legged robot that can move around warehouses and factories. TechCrunch reports Digit is being used at nine customer sites, including Schaeffler, GXO, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, and Mercado Libre.

Agility says it plans to use the new money to build more of its next model, Digit v5, fill existing orders, and sell to more customers. The company said it has more than $300 million in multi-year orders for the new model, and that over 30 potential customers are evaluating bigger rollouts.

The combined company is expected to trade under the ticker symbol AGLT. The specific North American stock exchange has not been announced.

Why it matters

Robots like Digit are aimed at jobs that are hard to hire for, especially repetitive work in warehouses and factories. If Agility can produce more robots and ship them faster, more companies may try them, which could affect how goods are moved and packed, and how some workplace roles change over time.

Source: TechCrunch AI