Self-driving startup Aurora to go public in $13 billion SPAC deal

FILE PHOTO: An Aurora self-driving Lincoln MKZ car is seen outside the company’s office in the Lawrenceville neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 21, 2018. Picture taken on September 21, 2018. REUTERS/Heather Somerville

(Reuters) -Self-driving technology startup Aurora will go public through a deal with a blank-check firm backed by Silicon Valley heavyweights Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus, giving the combined company a pro-forma market capitalization of $13 billion.

The deal with Reinvent Technology Partners Y will include a private placement of $1 billion from investors such as Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management and Research, T. Rowe Price, Morgan Stanley and Sequoia Capital, with strategic investments from Uber Technologies Inc, PACCAR and Volvo Group, Aurora said on Thursday.