Ouster Inc. and Velodyne Lidar Inc. announced today a proposed merger. The two California-based sensor component companies said by coming together they will speed up the development and deployment of lidar and increase long-term shareholder value.
“Ouster’s cutting-edge digital lidar technology evidenced by strong unit economics and the performance gains of our new products complemented by Velodyne’s decade of innovation, high-performance hardware and software solutions, and established global customer footprint position the combined company to accelerate the adoption of lidar technology,” said Angus Pacala, CEO of Ouster in a statement.
“Together, we will aim to deliver the performance customers demand while achieving price points low enough to promote mass adoption,” he added.
As one company, Velodyne’s and Ouster’s engineering, manufacturing, and general administration teams will be combined. Velodyne CEO Ted Tewksbury will serve as the board's executive chairman, and Pacala will serve as chief executive officer.
The board will be composed of eight members, with each company appointing an equal number of members. The full board and executive team will be shared at a later time, the companies said.
The new company will have $355M in cash balance
The new company will have 173 granted patents and 504 pending ones and a cash balance of approximately $355 million dollars as of Sept. 30, 2022. The combined company has a goal to realize annualized cost savings of at least $75 million within 9 months after closing, it said.
“Lidar is a valuable enabling technology for autonomy, with the ability to dramatically improve the efficiency, productivity, safety, and sustainability of a world in motion. We aim to create a vibrant and healthy lidar industry by offering both affordable, high-performance sensors to drive mass adoption across a wide variety of customer applications, and by creating scale to drive profitable and sustainable revenue growth,” said Tewksbury in a statement.
“The combination of Ouster and Velodyne is expected to unlock enormous synergies, creating a company with the scale and resources to deliver stronger solutions for customers and society, while accelerating time to profitability and enhancing value for shareholders,” Tewksbury added.
Both companies signed a merger agreement on Nov. 4, 2022, but before they can become one company, the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including getting approval from the shareholders of both companies. That is expected to be completed by the first half of 2023.
More about each company
Based in San Francisco, Ouster said more than 700 customers in 50 countries use its high-resolution digital lidar technology. The company said its sensors “offer an excellent combination of price and performance with the flexibility to span hundreds of use-cases and enable revolutionary autonomy across the industries.”
The company recently partnered with MOV.AI and Vecna Robotics to outfit their mobile robots with Ouster's technology.
Velodyne is based in San Jose and makes “real-time surround view lidar sensors.” It added that its sensors and software “provide flexibility, quality and performance to meet the needs of a wide range of industries, including autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), industrial, intelligent infrastructure and robotics.”
Earlier this fall, Boston Dynamics said that it would use Velodyne's lidar sensors on its robots as part of a multi-year agreement.
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