Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has committed to contribute $200 million to a planned private investment in public equity (PIPE) issuance of US-based View Inc.
View is a company that was formed following the merger of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) CF Finance Acquisition Corp II and Silicon Valley-based smart window company View Inc. It seeks to publicly-list on the Nasdaq.
In a statement, View said the additional investment from GIC increases the company’s fully committed PIPE investment from $300 million to $500 million. A PIPE deal involves the selling of publicly traded common shares to private investors at discounted price.
View will continue to operate as a technology company that creates smart and connected buildings that consume lesser energy. The company’s chairman and CEO, Rao Mulpuri, said View has built manufacturing operations in the US with products covered by over 1,000 patents.
It manufactures smart windows that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to tint the glass, optimizing natural light while controlling heat and glare.
“View is on a mission to address climate change and human health by making buildings smarter, healthier, more sustainable and more connected,” said Mulpuri.
CF Finance Acquisition Corp II, a newly launched blank check firm, commonly called SPAC, intends to focus on the financial services, healthcare, real estate services, technology, and software industries.
SPACs are companies without operations that are formed only to raise capital to acquire other businesses. These firms typically acquire firms as quickly as four to five months of their launch. They are given up to two years to seek targets. If they cannot fulfil that mandate, they will have to return all the money to the public shareholders.
The biggest SPAC focused on the region is Bridgetown Holdings, which is backed by Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Bridgetown, which raised $595 million, is reportedly considering a potential merger with Indonesia’s e-commerce giant Tokopedia in a deal that could value the unicorn at $8 billion to $10 billion.
Thiel and Li are now in the market seeking to raise $200 million for a second blank cheque company.
