Exclusive: Wejo to go public; deal values auto data startup at $800 million - sources
By Ben Klayman and Paul Lienert
Reuters
DETROIT (Reuters) - Auto data startup Wejo on Friday will announce plans to go public through a reverse merger with blank-check company Virtuoso Acquisition Corp in a deal that values the British company at $800 million including debt, people familiar with the plans said.
The deal, to be announced after the stock market closes, will raise $330 million in proceeds for Wejo, said the sources, who asked not to be identified. They said that includes $230 million from Special-Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Virtuoso and another $100 million referred to as Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE).
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We have two more interviews coming up with
Veo co-founder and CEO Candice Xie and
Refraction AI co-founder Matthew Johnson-Roberson.
Finally, we published a piece that examines voice recognition in vehicles, a marketplace that has tech giants like Google and Amazon competing for space with a few up and comers and established suppliers like Cerence.
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Wejo Ltd., the British automotive-data startup backed by General Motors, is in talks to go public through a merger with Virtuoso Acquisition Corp., a blank-check firm, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Virtuoso is seeking to raise new equity to support a transaction with a combined enterprise value of more than $1 billion, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations. Terms could change and, as with all transactions that aren’t yet finalized, it’s possible the talks could collapse.
A representative for Virtuoso declined to comment and Wejo didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.