Velodyne Lidar, Inc. is happy to announce today that our company will be combining with a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (commonly referred to as a SPAC) called Graf Industrial Corp. (NYSE: GRAF). GRAF and Velodyne have successfully raised $150MM in equity from a group of institutional investors, subject to completion of the transaction. This transaction is being structured as a reverse merger where existing Velodyne shareholders will own the majority of the go-forward company. The funds raised will be combined with up to $117M that GRAF had already raised from its existing investors. We are targeting to finalize the combination toward the end of Q3 2020, following approval by GRAF’s shareholders. At that time, Velodyne will become a publicly-traded company and we expect to be listed on the NYSE under a new ticker symbol, VLDR.

“Partnering with Graf Industrial will provide the opportunity to enhance our leading position in the lidar and sensor markets broadly around the world, creating new and exciting opportunities for our customers and employees,” said Velodyne’s CEO Anand Gopalan. “We will continue to focus on executing our strategic plan to deliver strong and disciplined growth, while realizing attractive returns through prudent capital management.” 

This is a tremendous opportunity for our company. We have achieved this milestone with the support of our customers, partners, suppliers, and employees. We look forward to continuing to enable safer mobility for all and bringing the benefits of our technology across countless applications.

Click here to read the full joint press release with Graf Industrial Corp.

Click here to view the SEC 8-K filing.

Click here to see a PDF of the Investor Presentation.

Watch the recording of the July 2, 2020 Investor Call below: