- Growth Capital Acquisition Corp. agreed to combine with Cepton Technologies Inc, a Silicon Valley firm focused on the development of lidar technology in August 2021
- The deal, which is expected to close on February 9, 2022, will value the company at approximately $1.5 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis
- GCAC’s management, Prokopios (Akis) Tsirigakis and George Syllantavos, have previously listed and successfully concluded 3 SPAC deals and boast a lengthy and experienced track record within the industry
Growth Capital Acquisition (NASDAQ: GCAC), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) listed on February 2, 2021, with $172.5 million in trust, arrived at a definitive business combination agreement with Cepton Technologies Inc., a Silicon Valley innovator and leader in high performance MMT(R) lidar solutions, on August 5, 2021. The proposed deal, which is expected to be completed early on February 9, 2022, will see the company renamed as Cepton Inc and listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under new ticker symbol ‘CPTN’, subject to, among other things, approval by Growth Capital’s stockholders (https://ibn.fm/yfgYP).
The transaction values Cepton at an enterprise value of approximately $1.5 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis, and is expected to provide the newly combined company with approximately $231 million in gross proceeds, consisting of $172.5 million from Growth Capital and a further $58.5 million from a PIPE (‘Private Investment in Public Equity’) offering.
Since its founding in 2016, Cepton has gone on to become a key player in the field of ADAS (“Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems”), the largest end-market for lidar. The company’s relentless focus on lidar technology as well as its proprietary directional lidar technology, known as MMT(R) (“Micro Motion Technology”) led the company to be awarded the largest-ever ADAS lidar series production award seen thus far by General Motors on July 13, 2021. A mere fortnight later, Ford Motor Company also published an article stating that they were engaging with Cepton and their custom LiDAR technology for some of its automobiles’ advanced ADAS features (https://ibn.fm/EBoe9).
Cepton Technologies’ state-of-the-art technology and robust commercial prospects were certainly at the forefront of Growth Capital Acquisition Corp’s management’s minds when opting to pursue the current business combination. Led by Chairman and Co-CEO, Prokopios (Akis) Tsirigakis and Co-CEO and CFO, George Syllantavos, GCAC’s management boast a handsome pedigree within the SPAC universe, having already founded, listed, and closed on three separate SPAC-based business combinations over the past few years. Prior to his work with GCAC and other SPACs, Mr Tsirigakis served as the CEO of Star Bulk (NASDAQ: SBLK) a company that owns and manages dry bulk vessels, and Combine Marine Inc., a ship management company. Meanwhile, Mr. Syllantavos previously advised on the coordination and listing of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. and has served as a financial and strategic advisor to both, the Greek Ministry of Industry & Energy, and the Greek Ministry of Health in the past.
The pair have also benefitted from stellar performance from prior deals. Having initially listed the Stellar Acquisition III, Inc (NASDAQ: STLR) SPAC on August 16, 2016, Mr. Tsirigakis oversaw the vehicle’s merger with Phunware, Inc – a mobile apps company on December 26, 2018. Whilst Mr. Tsirigakis stepped down as CEO post the deal, the combined entity would go on to soar by over 2,000 percent in the month following the deal. Similarly, Mr. Syllantavos helped list blank-check vehicle ITHAX Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: ITHX) in January 2021, with the company recently revealing that it had agreed to merge with Mondee, Inc, a California-based travel company in a deal valued at approximately $1 billion.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.GCACorp.com
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to GCAC are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/GCAC
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