Louisville’s Solid Power going public in $1.2B SPAC deal
LOUISVILLE — Solid Power Inc., the Louisville-based developer of all-solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, will be traded publicly on the Nasdaq exchange after a planned merger with special purpose acquisition company Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. III (Nasdaq: DCRC), a deal that values the company at $1.2 billion.
The combined company, which will keep the Solid Power name, will trade under the ticker symbol SLDP, according to a company news release.
The merger is expected to result in a cash injection for the company of $600 million.
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SPACs are shell companies that are listed on public exchanges and are later acquired by companies looking to go public outside of the normal procedures of an initial public offering. They do not require the private company to release an S-1 filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with financial data.
“Today marks an important milestone of commercializing Solid Power’s next generation of all-solid-state batteries that can alleviate the two largest passenger EV pain points: range anxiety and cost. In addition to our existing partners, Ford and BMW, we are now excited to partner with the DCRC team that shares our vision of powering a cleaner, safer and cost-effective electric future,” Solid Power CEO Doug Campbell said in a prepared statement.
The merger must be approved by DCRC’s shareholders and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
“Solid state batteries have long been the elusive technology breakthrough in the battery category for the better part of a decade. Countless labs, scientists, ventures and corporates have claimed progress towards scalable solid-state batteries, with an emphasis on claims. No other known company has made the type of commercialization achievements in all-solid-state batteries that Solid Power has, and Solid Power’s technology is built around a manufacturing process that would be indistinguishable to lithium ion batteries, putting this company in a league of its own,” DCRC chairman Robert Tichio said in a statement.
Solid State has been on a fundraising tear of late, with rounds led by automotive giants BMW Group and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F).
Those car makers joined with venture capital group Volta Energy Technologies LLC in a $130 million Series B investment in Solid Power last month.
Both Ford and BMW have supported Solid Power in the past, with Ford investing in the company in 2019 and BMW in 2017.
Solid Power said earlier this year that it plans to provide Ford and BMW with full-scale 100-ampere-hour cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022.
“With nearly a $220 billion total addressable market, Solid Power is well-positioned for significant growth for years to come. Through the vision and leadership of Doug Campbell, they have built an incredible team, developed an all-solid-state battery technology platform that is expected to outperform lithium-ion and future next-generation battery technologies, and attracted a collection of world-class investors and partners,” Tichio said in a statement.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. acted as financial adviser to Solid Power, and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC advised DCRC in the deal.
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