More Sovereign Wealth Fund SPAC Action, as GIC Sees Promise in View Inc
Posted on 01/11/2021
SPACs are giving life to profitless unicorns in the renewable sector, whether in electric vehicles or building supplies. Blank check company CF Finance Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: CFII) (“CF II”) and Milpitas-based View, Inc. announced GIC Private Limited, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has agreed to invest an additional US$ 200 million in the previously announced private investment in public equity (PIPE) issuance. The additional investment from GIC increases the fully committed PIPE investment from US$ 300 million to US$ 500 million.
On November 30, 2020, CF II, a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, and View, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based smart window company, entered into a definitive merger agreement. The transaction is now expected to deliver up to US$ 1 billion of gross proceeds including the contribution of US$ 500 million of cash held in CF II’s trust account from its initial public offering. The combined company will be called View, Inc. and is expected to be publicly listed on Nasdaq following the close of the transaction.
Advisors
Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal counsel to GIC in connection with the transaction.
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund is a sovereign wealth investor in View long before this SPAC deal. The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation could own 27,183,151 shares in the proposed combined entity, or 15.3% of the firm based on maximum redemption.
View was co-founded on April 9, 2007 by Paul Nguyen and Mike Scobey as eChromics, Inc. It was then named Soladigm, Inc. on October 2007. In 2012, the company changed its name to View, Inc. In 2018, View, Inc. announced a US$ 1.1 billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund. SVF Excalibur (Cayman) Limited, the entity owned by SoftBank, owns over 30% of View.
According to SEC filing data, View had revenues of US$ 24,324,000 in 2019 and US$ 20,175,000 in 2018. View had net losses of US$ 281,904,000 in 2019 and a net loss of US$ 441,500,000 in 2018.
Keywords: SoftBank Group Corporation.