Linklaters advised Plus, a global provider of self-driving truck technology, on its proposed business combination with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V(NASDAQ: HCIC) (HCIC V), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focusing on sustainable industrial technology and infrastructure industries. This is the world’s first de-SPAC transaction of an autonomous trucking technology company.
A combined public entity, Plus Inc., is expected to be created upon closing of the transaction, with its ordinary shares expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The transaction represents a post-combination market capitalisation of approximately US$3.3bn for Plus. The transaction is expected to deliver to Plus up to approximately US$500m in gross proceeds, including approximately US$345m of cash held in HCIC V’s trust account from its initial public offering in January 2021, assuming no redemptions by HCIC V’s public stockholders. The transaction is further supported by US$150m of private investments in public equity (PIPE investments) from institutional investors, including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and the D. E. Shaw Group.
The Linklaters team was led by partners Xiaoxi Lin based in the firm’s Hong Kong SAR office, Jeffrey Cohen and Peter Cohen-Millstein based in New York.
