Sarcos Robotics eyes $1.3 billion valuation in merger with SPAC backed by ex Credit Suisse exec

• Sarcos Robotics announced it will go public through a merger with Rotor Acquisition.
• Both companies are eyeing a valuation of $1.3 billion.
• The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
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Sarcos Robotics announced it will go public through a merger with a blank-check company Rotor Acquisition that will value the combined company at $1.3 billion, in a statement released Tuesday.

The special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, is helmed by Brian Finn, the former CEO of Credit Suisse USA.

The deal will include a potential earnout of an additional $281 million based on the performance of the merger.

Upon completion, the merger is expected to give the Salt Lake City-based robot developer around $496 million in cash including a $220 million private investment in public equity, or PIPE, from BlackRock, Millennium Management, Palantir Technologies Inc, Sarcos chairman and CEO Ben Wolff, and founders of Rotor Acquisition.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. The combined companies will be named Sarcos Technologies and Robotics Corporation, and will trade under the Nasdaq ticker "STRC."

Sarcos develops robotics that helps employees in physically demanding workplaces lift heavy objects to prevent injuries. It is backed by Caterpillar Venture Capital, Delta Air Lines, GE Ventures, Microsoft, and Schlumberger.

SPACs, shell companies seeking to merge with private companies with the intention of taking them public, have boomed over the last year.

In 2020, a total of 248 SPACs raised $83.3 billion according to SPAC Analytics. But in the first three months of 2021 alone, data already shows 298 SPACs raised $96.8 billion, comprising 70% of initial public offerings.