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Herzliya, Israel and Las Vegas, Nevada, March 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Software Acquisition Group Inc II (NASDAQ: SAII) ( Software Acquisition Group ), a US publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, announced today that Otonomo Technologies Ltd. ( Otonomo ) has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) a registration statement on Form F-4 (the Registration Statement ), which contains a preliminary proxy statement/prospectus, in connection with Software Acquisition Group s recently-announced proposed business combination with Otonomo, the premier one-stop shop for vehicle data. The board of the directors of the combined company will include Jonathan Huberman, Software Acquisition Group s CEO. While the Registration Statement has not yet become effective and the information contained therein is subject to change, it provides important information about Software Acquisition Group, Otonomo, and the proposed business combination.
Data automotive startup Otonomo to go public via SPAC
Otonomo, the cloud-based software startup that help companies capture and monetize connected car data, is headed to the public market. The Israeli-based startup said Monday it has agreed to merge with special purpose acquisition company Software Acquisition Group Inc. II with a valuation of $1.4 billion.
Otonomo is joining a growing pool of automotive startups that have sidestepped the traditional IPO path in favor of merging with a SPAC, or blank check company. Arrival, Canoo, Lordstown Motors, Luminar, ChargePoint, The Lion Electric and Proterra are just some of the transportation-related companies that have announced or closed their SPAC mergers in the past several months.
Israeli startups are continuing their onslaught on Nasdaq via special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and following Taboola and Innoviz, today Otonomo Technologies confirmed that it too is choosing that path. The company will be listed on Nasdaq and raise $350 million at an estimated valuation of $1.4 billion. The company, which has developed a platform and marketplace for vehicle data, will merge with Software Acquisition Group, Inc. II after the latter raised $172.5 million in a Nasdaq IPO last September. After the deal is completed in the second quarter of 2021, Otonomo will be listed under the ticker symbol OTMO.
Out of the $350 million it is raising, $60 million will be used to purchase secondary options from the company’s managers and employees, $30 million for each, and the remaining funds will be invested in the company.
Otonomo, Leading Platform and Marketplace for Vehicle Data, to List on Nasdaq Through a Business Combination with Software Acquisition Group Inc II citizentribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from citizentribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dot-com Era Stock Valuations Bring Bubble Fears to ESG Funds
Bloomberg 1/26/2021
(Bloomberg) It’s reality-check time for ESG funds.
Exchange-traded funds investing in companies with responsible environmental, social and corporate governance practices lured a record $85 billion in the U.S. and Europe in 2020, and are still raking it in. Pumped up by the flows, stocks in many of these funds are trading at frothy price-to-earnings multiples that are increasingly hard to justify. Take U.S. fuel-cell maker Plug Power Inc., for instance. The unprofitable company’s more than 2,000% rally since early 2020 outpaces even Tesla Inc’s.
“There is a risk that holdings that populate ESG funds have become overvalued,” said Chris Dyer, director of global equity at Eaton Vance. “Investors both active and passive are increasingly chasing these themes and driving valuation to uncomfortable levels in some cases. This type of naïve investing tends to end badly.”