Movella Holdings Inc. (“Movella”), a global leader in the
digitization of movement, announced today the completion of its
previously announced business combination (the “Business
Combination”) with Pathfinder Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PFDR)
(“Pathfinder”), a special purpose acquisition company.
The Business Combination was approved by the respective Boards
of Directors and shareholders of Pathfinder and Movella Inc. The
combined company will operate as “Movella Holdings Inc.”, and its
common stock and warrants are expected to begin trading on the
Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol “MVLA” and “MVLAW”,
respectively, on February 13, 2023.
“We are excited to be joining Nasdaq,” said Ben Lee, CEO of
Movella. “Becoming a public company will fuel our growth in
digitizing movement and accelerate our progress in enabling our
customers to realize extraordinary outcomes across entertainment,
health & sports, and automation & mobility markets.”
“With the completion of this combination, Movella can further
invest in its world-class technology and talent to accelerate
growth and capture exciting opportunities in emerging growth
markets such as the metaverse, as well as its core growth
markets,” said David Chung, CEO of Pathfinder, who will become a
director on Movella’s Board. “We are honored to partner with Ben
and the Movella management team to continue bringing great
solutions to market and shape the industry.”
Transaction Overview
The Business Combination values Movella at a pro forma
enterprise value1 of $504 million. Existing shareholders of
Movella, including Kleiner Perkins, GIC and Columbia Threadneedle,
rolled 100 percent of their ownership into the combined
company.
The transaction was supported by $75 million of financing from
affiliates of Francisco Partners (“FP”), a leading technology
focused private investment firm with over $45 billion of cumulative
committed capital. Under the terms of the investment, FP acquired
$75 million of Pathfinder common stock prior to closing through a
direct placement of Pathfinder stock. Under the terms of the
financing, Movella issued to FP a 5-year PIK note. This unique
structure gives Movella the right to direct the sale of FP’s
purchased stock into the public market at any time following the
closing of the transaction until the repayment or prepayment of the
note, the proceeds of which will provide material credits against
the note balance at a repayment or refinancing event.
Other than terms previously disclosed, there are no provisions
under which FP will be issued additional shares (whether related to
the Company’s stock price performance or otherwise) post-closing.
This flexible financing was designed to not only help ensure the
Company has substantial cash resources at closing, but to also
allow Movella’s current and future shareholders to benefit from the
potential ability to reduce the future amounts due under the FP
note through share price appreciation.
Advisors
Movella was advised by Stifel (as exclusive financial advisor)
and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in connection with the
transaction. Pathfinder was advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP,
and Francisco Partners was advised by Latham & Watkins LLP in
connection with the transaction.
About Movella Holdings Inc.
Movella is a leading full-stack provider of sensors, software,
and analytics that enable the digitization of movement. Movella
serves the entertainment, health & sports, and automation &
mobility markets. Our innovations enable our customers to
capitalize on the value of movement by transforming data into
meaningful and actionable insights. Partnering with leading global
brands such as Electronic Arts, EPIC Games, 20th Century Studios,
Netflix, Toyota, Siemens, and over 500 sports organizations,
Movella is creating extraordinary outcomes that move humanity
forward. To learn more, visit www.movella.com.
Contact:
Steve Smith, CFO steve.smith@movella.com+1 408-637-5521
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking
Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of federal securities laws. The words “accelerate,”
“anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “enable,” “estimate,”
“expect,” “extend,” “fuel,” “future,” “growth,” “intend,” “may,”
“might,” “opportunity,” “outlook,” “plan,” “position,” “possible,”
“potential,” “predict,” “progress,” “project,” “realize,” “see,”
“seem,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions, or the
negative of such expressions, may identify forward-looking
statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a
statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the
following: Movella’s management team’s expectations, hopes,
beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and the
company’s competitive position; the potential impact of the
Business Combination on Movella and its business, including
allowing Movella to continue to rapidly scale its business and
further invest in market-leading movement capture and digitization
solutions; the potential benefits and expectations related to the
terms of the FP financing, including but not limited to, the sale
of FP-purchased stock and repayment of the note; the ability of
Movella’s solutions to enable real-time digitized movement in the
emerging high-growth areas of the Metaverse, next-generation
gaming, live streaming and other applications; the anticipated use
of capital raised from the transaction to further scale and grow
the business; the belief that Movella’s proprietary technology,
scalable business model, and experienced leadership team will
position Movella to extend its leadership position and continue to
deliver innovations that drive the industry; the anticipated or
potential features, benefits, and applications for Movella’s
products and technology and timing thereof; the market opportunity
for Movella’s products and technology; or other characterizations
of future events or circumstances, including any underlying
assumptions. These statements are based on the current expectations
of Movella’s management and are not predictions of actual
performance and as such, are provided for illustrative purposes
only. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks,
uncertainties (some of which are beyond Movella’s control) or other
assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be
materially different from those expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to, the following: (i) failure to realize the
anticipated benefits of the Business Combination; (ii) general
economic conditions and Movella’s financial performance; (iii)
changes adversely affecting the businesses in which Movella is
engaged; (iv) Movella’s ability to execute on its business strategy
and plans and to manage growth; and (v) risks related to regulatory
matters, as well as the factors described under the headings “Risk
Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements”
in the final prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) by Pathfinder on
January 17, 2023 and in those documents that Movella will file with
the SEC in the future. If any of these risks materialize or the
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ
materially from the results implied by these forward-looking
statements. There may be additional risks that Movella presently
knows or currently believes are immaterial that could also cause
actual results to differ from those contained in the
forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements
reflect expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views
as of the date of this press release. Movella anticipates that
subsequent events and developments will cause its assessments to
change. However, while Movella may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Movella
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except to the
extent required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements
should not be relied upon as representing Movella’s assessments as
of any date subsequent to the date of this press release and are
not intended to serve as a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or
a definitive statement of fact or probability. Accordingly, undue
reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking
statements.
1 Enterprise Value is calculated as the sum of Movella’s
equity value and net debt. The pro forma enterprise value
incorporates an assumption that the $75 million in aggregate
principal amount incurred through the debt financing facilities
with FP remains on the balance sheet in its full amount, and thus
includes an approximately $75 million net debt adjustment for such
aggregate principal amount remaining outstanding at the closing of
the transaction, prior to benefits from any non-redemptions.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fc0400e9-c56f-43bd-8b08-462f88893497
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