Energy Vault SPAC deal nearing completion
Westlake Village-based Energy Vault will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the coming weeks, if its merger with a special purpose acquisition company gets final approval at the SPAC’s shareholder meeting on Feb. 10.
Energy Vault, which uses a gravity-based system to store energy generated by renewable sources, announced plans in September to go public through a merger with Novus Capital Corp. II, a holding company that trades under the symbol NXU. On Jan. 24, Novus announced that its registration statement for the offering had been declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and that it had scheduled a virtual shareholders meeting for Feb. 10 to approve the merger.
If the Novus shareholders approve, the combined company will begin trading “shortly thereafter” under the new symbol NRGV, Novus said in its Jan. 24 news release.
When the merger is complete, Novus will issue around 106 million shares of its stock to Energy Vault’s shareholders, worth around $1.06 billion. Energy Vault’s existing stockholders will own about 68% of the total shares of the post-merger company, led by Energy Vault CEO Robert Piconi at 9.9%, according to Novus’ SEC filings.
Along with the merger and the stock listing, Energy Vault sell around 15 million shares in a “private investment in public equity,” or PIPE offering, expected to raise about $150 million.
Energy Vault develops gravity-based energy storage systems that the company says are more durable and efficient than other methods to store energy, such as batteries. The system uses cranes that lift heavy bricks to store renewable energy and then lower them to release it. One of its systems is connected to Switzerland’s national power grid.
