When the deal is completed, ECARX expects to be listed on the Nasdaq under the “ECX” ticker symbol. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2022, subject to customary closing conditions and the approval of shareholders from both ECARX and COVA.

ECARX was co-founded in 2017 by Ziyu Shen, Chairman and CEO, and by Eric Li (Li Shufu), the founder and chairman of Geely. Geely has been a close partner of ECARX over the years, benefiting from its connection and access to the company while showing growth potential within the Geely ecosystem. This connection to Geely and its ecosystem also allows ECARX to facilitate its existing business relationships with major OEM brands.

Through these strategic relationships, the startup creates robust pathways to third party OEMs and international growth, with multiple development and commercialization opportunities. Since its founding, the company has grown to serve 12 OEM brands, including the Geely Auto Group, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, Proton and smart, and eight Tier 1 suppliers worldwide. In the future, it will look to scale and expands its global reach.

Today, ECARX develops hardware and software solutions for the development of connected, automated and electrified mobility around the world. In the last three years, the startup’s technology has been integrated into more than 3.2 million vehicles worldwide. It also partners with OEMs across the early development cycle to deliver a fast, robust product roadmap and build an automotive technology platform that best meets their needs. In the future, it is looking to develop new technologies and partners through the opportunities presented by the transition to fully connected, autonomous, and electrified vehicles.

ECARX’s platform roadmap consists of several technologies – including combined SoC core modules and a versatile operating that, together, simplify and accelerate product development. Currently under development is an automotive central computing platform, an operating system and software to deliver the digital cockpit, ADAS, autonomous driving, and functional safety solutions. In carrying this work out, the company recently announced a collaboration with Luminar to further advance its autonomous technologies.

Since its inception in 2015, Five has worked in several aspects of vehicle autonomy – including cloud software, safety assurance, robotics, and machine learning – while also developing adjacent software and AI. It not focuses primarily on a cloud-based development and testing platform for the software used in autonomous vehicles. The platform can analyze data from a fleet of vehicles, create advanced testing scenarios and build a simulation environment to assess and validate system behavior at scale.

Through the acquisition, Bosch ultimately expects Five to strengthen its project structure for AV development. At the same time, it works to consolidate Bosch’s market position in software and automated driving.

It follows the company forming a partnership with Veoneer to create Arriver last year, with plans to develop a full software stack that integrated the perception and driving policy solutions developed by Veoneer with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride Platform.

Through the acquisition, Qualcomm has confirmed that it will now accelerate the integration of these solutions into the Snapdragon Ride Platform portfolio. While the specifics of the acquisition have not yet been revealed, Qualcomm has advised that further financial details around it will be provided later this month in a forthcoming earnings call.

At the same time, Qualcomm’s acquisition will work similarly to expand its strategic collaboration with Veoneer. Both companies have signed a new agreement that helps ensure the continuation of their service and support for customers. The agreement also details their future collaboration areas, including roadmap alignment and technology cooperation in ADAS development. They will also engage in joint go-to-market activities, including on-road demonstrations of co-developed ADAS solutions for L2+ autonomy, with higher levels planned for the future.

Bosch confirmed that Atlatec would join its Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division, which operates as an independently operated company. Through the acquisition, Bosch hopes to leverage Atlatec’s knowledge to aid its existing automated driving and mapping partnerships. Likewise, the company envision leveraging this knowledge for the development of its own automated driving solutions.

Through the partnership, Mercedes-Benz intends to industrialize and integrate Luminar’s LiDAR technology into its series production vehicles. The partnership will also see the OEM enable Luminar with a data driven development approach for continuous product improvement and updates.

At closing, SSW Partners will acquire the outstanding capital stock of Veoneer, shortly after which it will sell the Arriver business to Qualcomm and retain Veoneer’s Tier-1 supplier businesses. SSW Partners will lead the process of finding strong, long-term strategic partners.

Upon close of the transactions, Qualcomm will incorporate Arriver’s Computer Vision, Drive Policy and Driver Assistance assets into its Snapdragon Ride ADAS solution. This will augment the company’s ability to deliver an open ADAS platform for automakers and Tier-1s at scale.

SSW Partners will work with Veoneer’s management to ensure the pursuit of Veoneer’s existing business plan and to identify strong, long-term strategic partners for the Restraint Control Systems (RCS) and Active Safety businesses.

SSW Partners’ investment in Veoneer will represent its first capital commitment as a partnership since its founding at the beginning of 2021.

The CARMERA team has been a long-standing, trusted partner to Woven Planet, and with the closing of the transaction, Woven Planet will immediately oversee their offices and operations in New York and Seattle. They will join Woven Planet’s Automated Mapping Platform (“AMP”) team, helping develop AMP to become the most globally comprehensive road and lane network HD map platform, enabling high-precision localization support to automated vehicles. CARMERA’s strengths in map updates, change management and camera-based crowdsourcing from fleets will complement and help expand upon the HD mapping platform Woven Planet has already built. Together with Level 5 and Toyota Research Institute (“TRI”), the addition of CARMERA will bring Woven Planet one step closer to achieving its vision “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live.”

The deal closure follows the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review of the deal.

With industry-leading accuracy, Phasya’s AI-based software analyzes biometric signals such as eye tracking or heart rate to monitor cognitive states including drowsiness, cognitive load, and distraction. The company’s algorithms are necessary components in all Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS), to understand the driver states impacting safety, driving experience, and comfort. Phasya’s solutions can also be deployed within industries such as aviation, rail, and consumer electronics. The solution is built on more than a decade of cutting-edge research in collaboration with The University of Liège, Belgium.

Rationale for the acquisition
Phasya’s technology and long experience within development and validation of algorithms to assess cognitive states is highly complementary to Tobii´s expertise and eye tracking technology. This will enhance Tobii’s Driver Monitoring System, Tobii DMS. It also opens new opportunities for using cognitive state information in several markets, such as VR, AR, Scientific Research, and Gaming, providing substantial synergies. The company currently collaborates with numerous customers within automotive, technology, and aviation, as well as with leading industry associations providing key relationships for Tobii and Phasya to build on.

Phasya is in its early pre-revenue commercialization phase. By leveraging its resources and capabilities, Tobii will be able to accelerate the commercialization of Phasya’s offering. Tobii expects the business to scale rapidly, driven by integrations of the algorithms in Tobii´s existing solutions as well as in new applications, and with the mass market adoption for automotive DMS expected in 2024/25.

The acquisition builds on Magna’s strengths and positions the company’s advanced driver assistance systems (“ADAS”) business as a global leader with comprehensive capabilities. The acquisition also expands Magna’s ADAS business with major customers and provides access to new customers and regions, including in Asia. Magna expects to operate Veoneer’s Arriver sensor perception and drive policy software platform as an independent business unit, consistent with Veoneer’s current practice.   In addition, Magna will acquire Veoneer’s leading global position in restraint control systems.

Following the closing of the transaction, Veoneer will be combined with Magna’s existing ADAS business and integrated into Magna’s electronics operating unit. The combined business will build upon relationships with both organizations’ automotive customers, suppliers and technology partners to develop best-in-class products.

Jan Carlson, Veoneer’s Chairman, President & CEO said: “This is a compelling transaction for all stakeholders. It will deliver significant and immediate value to Veoneer stockholders through an attractive premium to our trading price, and provide new opportunities for our employees to join one of the most capable suppliers in the mobility space. In addition, combining forces with Magna will allow the combined business to elevate its status as a full-systems ADAS supplier, which should benefit our customers, supplier partners and ultimately consumers.”

Mr. Kotagiri added, “We have a great deal of respect for Veoneer’s team around the world and their culture of innovation and creativity. We look forward to welcoming Veoneer’s employees into our global Magna family and are confident that together we will be able to achieve great results and move faster to address the growing ADAS market.”

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRANSACTION

• Creates a global leader in ADAS with pro forma 2020 ADAS sales of $1.2 billion and capabilities across:
  • Key component categories, including camera, radar, LiDAR and domain controllers; and
  • Software features/functions, including perception and drive policy.
• Enhances Magna’s ADAS systems capabilities and adds significant engineering and software competency, including Arriver sensor perception and drive policy software.
• The complementary nature of the two businesses is expected to result in greater ADAS content per vehicle for Magna driven by the opportunity to offer more complete and integrated ADAS systems, inclusive of software.
• Strengthens Magna’s customer and geographic diversification in ADAS. The combined entity will have a well-diversified customer base. In addition, Veoneer’s business and footprint in Asia builds on Magna‘s customer and geographic bases in this important region.
• Expect to realize annual run-rate synergies of approximately $100 million by 2024. These savings are incremental to Veoneer’s previously announced market adjustment initiatives.
• The all-cash transaction will allow Magna to maintain a strong balance sheet with an expected adjusted debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio slightly above the high end of Magna’s 1.0 to 1.5 target range at closing.  

TRANSACTION DETAILS AND TIMING
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Veoneer and Magna boards of directors, and Veoneer’s board of directors unanimously recommends that Veoneer stockholders approve the proposed merger and merger agreement. In addition, Veoneer stockholders AMF, Cevian, AP4 and Alecta, which collectively represent approximately 40% of Veoneer’s outstanding shares of common stock, have either entered into support agreements with Magna or provided indications of support, pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things and subject to certain conditions, to vote their shares of Veoneer common stock in favor of the transaction. A special meeting of Veoneer’s stockholders will be convened in connection with the transaction as soon as practicable after the mailing to Veoneer’s stockholders of the proxy statement in connection with the merger. The transaction is expected to close near the end of 2021, subject to the approval of Veoneer’s stockholders, certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The transaction is not subject to any financing conditions.

Citi serves as financial advisor and Sidley Austin LLP serves as legal counsel to Magna. Rothschild & Co and Morgan Stanley serve as financial advisors and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP serves as legal counsel to Veoneer.

With the acquisition in place, Woven Planet will be provided with technology, talent, and an international footprint that will accelerate its efforts. Woven Planet will immediately oversee Level 5’s offices and operations in Silicon Valley and London. In addition, Woven Planet welcomes Level 5’s team of over 300 high-caliber engineers, research scientists, and mobility specialists. It will also be acquiring the Lyft division’s significant sensing, computing, and software assets, and Level 5’s strategic capabilities in automated driving systems.

The deal closure follows the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review of the deal and determination that there are no unresolved national security concerns with respect to the transaction.

The acquisition secures a key part of Luminar’s supply chain and enables deeper integration with its existing chip design subsidiary Black Forest Engineering (BFE), which Luminar acquired in 2017. Luminar is combining the latest technology from Optogration and BFE to power its new fifth-generation lidar chip in Iris as the company prepares for series production of its product and technology.

For the past five years, Luminar has been closely collaborating with OptoGration, developing, iterating, and perfecting the specialized InGaAs photodetector technology that is required for 1550nm lidar. OptoGration has capacity to produce approximately one million InGaAs chips with Luminar’s design each year at their specialized fabrication facility in Wilmington, Mass, with the opportunity to expand to up to ten million units per year capacity.

Luminar combines its InGaAs photodetector chips from Optogration with silicon ASICs, produced by BFE, to create its lidar receiver and processing chip, which is the most sensitive, highest dynamic range InGaAs receiver of its kind in the world. It is able to acquire and process gigabits of precise data per second to produce optimal lidar data. The fifth generation proprietary chip is now powering Luminar’s Iris sensor. Iris is the only system to meet the stringent performance, safety, scalability, and economic requirements to enable autonomous driving in series production vehicles.

OptoGration’s founders are joining Luminar as part of this transaction and will continue to lead the business with support from Luminar.

The OptoGration acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter. The transaction price was not disclosed but does not represent a material impact to Luminar’s cash position or share count.

Once the deal is closed, the CARMERA team will report into the Automated Mapping Platform (“AMP”) organization of Woven Alpha, Inc. (“Woven Alpha”). Woven Alpha focuses on exploring new strategic areas for business expansion and incubates several innovative projects such as Woven City and Arene, which is Woven Planet’s open software platform. AMP is a connected crowdsourced software platform that supports the creation, development and distribution of high definition (“HD”) maps—a key enabler for smart and safe automated mobility.

The Woven Alpha team plans to develop AMP to become the most globally comprehensive road and lane network HD map platform, enabling high-precision localization support to automated vehicles. The acquisition of CARMERA will accelerate AMP’s shift from the R&D stage to the next phase of commercialization by bolstering the platform’s engineering team with top experts in the development of HD maps. In addition, it will provide access to CARMERA’s sophisticated map update, change management and IoT sensing technology.

Together, the teams will tap into CARMERA’s ability to successfully update HD maps from crowdsourced, camera-based inputs—a significantly cheaper and faster approach than traditional methods. This will strengthen AMP’s ability to serve a comprehensive set of road classes and features, reflecting changes in lane markings, traffic signals, signs and more in near real-time, and support its future multi-regional commercial launch.

CARMERA will join Woven Planet Group as a wholly-owned subsidiary, expanding the company’s footprint beyond its Tokyo headquarters by adding New York and Seattle offices to its planned offices in Silicon Valley and London.

Post-closing, the Group holds an 80 percent stake in Boston Dynamics and SoftBank, through one of its affiliates, retains the remaining 20 percent stake.

Boston Dynamics is the established leader in developing agile, mobile robots that have been successfully integrated into business operations of many of the world’s leading industrial firms. Advanced robotics offer opportunities for rapid growth with the potential to positively impact society by making work safer and more productive.

By acquiring Boston Dynamics and securing a leading presence in the field of robotics, the Group takes another major step toward its strategic transformation into a Smart Mobility Solution Provider. To propel this transformation, the Group has invested substantially in the development of future technologies, including autonomous driving, artificial intelligence (AI), Urban Air Mobility (UAM), smart factories and robots.

In the field of robotics, the Group aims to develop advanced technologies that enhance people’s lives and promote safety, thereby realizing the progress for humanity.

The deal is also expected to allow the Group and Boston Dynamics to leverage each other’s respective strengths in manufacturing, logistics, construction and automation. Together, the Group and Boston Dynamics will create a robotics value chain, from robot component manufacturing to smart logistics solutions. Additionally, the Group will support Boston Dynamics’ continued expansion of its product line and global sales and service footprint. 

Boston Dynamics launched sales of its first commercial robot, Spot® in June of 2020 and now has hundreds of robots operating in a variety of industries, including power utilities, construction, manufacturing, oil and gas, and mining. The company also recently unveiled Stretch, its first commercial robot specifically designed for warehouse facilities and distribution centers.    

Maps that are accurate to within a few meters are good enough when providing turn-by-turn directions for humans. AVs, however, require much greater precision. They must operate with centimeter-level precision for accurate localization, the ability of an AV to locate itself in the world.  

Proper localization also requires constantly updated maps. These maps must also reflect current road conditions, such as a work zone or a lane closure. These maps need to efficiently scale across AV fleets, with fast processing and minimal data storage. Finally, they must be able to function worldwide. 

DeepMap was founded five years ago by Wu and Mark Wheeler, veterans of Google, Apple and Baidu, among other companies. The U.S.-based company has developed a high-definition mapping solution that meets these requirements and has already been validated by the AV industry with a wide array of potential customers around the world.  

The team, primarily located in the San Francisco Bay Area, has many decades of collective experience in mapping technology and developed a solution that considers autonomous vehicles both map creators and map consumers. Using crowdsourced data from vehicle sensors lets DeepMap build a high-definition map that’s continuously updated as the car drives. 

Ongoing Partner Support  

NVIDIA will continue working with DeepMap’s ecosystem to meet their needs, investing in new capabilities and services for new and existing partners. 

NVIDIA DRIVE is a software-defined, end-to-end platform — from deep neural network training and validation in the data center to high-performance compute in the vehicle — that enables continuous improvement and deployment via over-the-air updates.  

DeepMap’s technology will bolster the mapping and localization capabilities available on NVIDIA DRIVE, ensuring autonomous vehicles always know precisely where they are and where they’re going. 

The companies are merging to create a transatlantic AI juggernaut that will lead and accelerate the growth and development of the rapidly evolving automotive Interior Sensing market, as well as the Media Analytics and Human Factors Research markets.

Smart Eye has over two decades of experience building AI-based eye tracking and delivering automotive-grade Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS), as proven by 84 production contracts with 12 of the 20 largest global OEMs. Spun out of MIT Media Lab in 2009, Emotion AI pioneer Affectiva has, in recent years, broadened its technology to in-cabin sensing, using machine learning and computer vision to gain a deep, human-centric understanding of what is happening in a vehicle.

Rather than continuing as competitors in the automotive market, the companies are joining forces. By combining their best-of-breed technologies and two highly skilled and complementary teams, Smart Eye and Affectiva will bring to market unparalleled, automotive-grade Interior Sensing AI, better and faster than the competition. The combined company’s solution will not only improve automotive safety, saving human lives around the world, it will also provide differentiated mobility experiences that enhance wellness, comfort and entertainment.

In addition to strengthening Smart Eye’s automotive offering, Affectiva brings significant incremental revenues and profit from its industry-leading Media Analytics business. Used by 70 percent of the world’s largest advertisers, Affectiva’s enterprise-grade technology analyzes consumers’ emotional reactions to brand content and experiences. This technology has synergies with Smart Eye’s Research Instruments solutions, which provide the world’s leading research organizations with high-fidelity eye tracking systems for human factors research.

The integration of Affectiva’s AI with Smart Eye’s eye tracking systems can provide human factors researchers and marketers with a more holistic and insightful view of people’s behaviors.

The acquisition expands Smart Eye’s global presence. Affectiva’s Boston office gives Smart Eye a footprint within the vibrant technology innovation ecosystem on the US East Coast, and its Cairo office provides access to highly skilled local talent. Smart Eye is headquartered in Gothenburg (Sweden), with offices in Detroit (US), Tokyo (Japan), Chongqing (China), and soon Germany.

The design cycles for ADAS are complex and automotive OEMs and suppliers need systems that streamline the transitions between simulation, lab-based and physical test environments to ultimately create safer vehicles. Today, disparate tools cause siloed processes, time-to-market delays, and lead to higher costs that reduce the pace of innovation and hinder the quality of advanced technologies.

This approach combined with NI’s software-connected systems will help transportation customers streamline the transitions between simulation, lab-based and physical testing environments. In doing so, NI will now enable vehicle manufacturers and suppliers to accelerate the shift to self-driving vehicles.

In conjunction with this acquisition, NI also announced a strategic collaboration with Ansys, the global leader in engineering simulation. Ansys’ industry-leading simulation solution enables sensor vendors to simulate the fundamental physics of their radars, LiDARs, and cameras from design through manufacturing. Together, NI and Ansys will help solve the complex challenge of recreating real-world simulation to validate sensors and inject data into software and hardware under test in real-time. This shared focus will provide customers with critical insights into how products will perform in market by bridging the worlds of simulated and physical test with more precise outcomes.

The Level 5 team will join Woven Planet, a subsidiary of Toyota dedicated to developing autonomous driving and other advanced mobility technologies. In addition to the acquisition of Level 5, Woven Planet and Lyft have signed commercial agreements for the utilization of Lyft system and fleet data to accelerate the safety and commercialization of the automated-driving vehicles that Woven Planet will develop.

Lyft’s Open Platform team, which focuses on the deployment and scaling of third-party self-driving technology on the Lyft network, will become the new Lyft Autonomous team. “We are excited about the transformative impact AVs will have on our world as we drive toward a future that is electric, autonomous and shared,” Green said. “With Lyft Autonomous, we can combine the power of Lyft’s hybrid network, marketplace engine and fleet management capabilities to help our AV partners scale deployment with the highest revenue per mile at the lowest cost per mile. We look forward to continuing to partner with the best autonomous vehicle companies to bring this technology to market.”

Lyft will receive, in total, approximately $550 million in cash with this transaction, with $200 million paid upfront subject to certain closing adjustments and $350 million of payments over a five-year period. The transaction is also expected to remove $100 million of annualized non-GAAP operating expenses on a net basis – primarily from reduced R&D spend – which will accelerate Lyft’s path to Adjusted EBITDA profitability.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals and customary and other closing conditions.

Savari’s software and hardware technology will enhance HARMAN’s comprehensive automotive telematics and advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) capabilities, and expand the company’s strengths in 5G Edge, multi-access edge computing (MEC) and smart infrastructure solutions.

Savari deploys V2X sensor solutions and edge-based analytics for automotive and smart infrastructure, including Vehicle-to-Infrastructure, Vehicle-to-Phone for pedestrians and bicyclists, Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Infrastructure-to-Phone. Savari’s hardware and software are radio agnostic, designed to fit any standards-compliant radio.

Savari employees will join HARMAN upon closing of the deal, and will be integrated into HARMAN’s Automotive division, a tier one automotive supplier for connected car, car audio and connected vehicle services.

The Board of Directors of each of AEye and CF III have unanimously approved the transaction. The transaction will require the approval of the stockholders of CF III and AEye, and is subject to other customary closing conditions, including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

Assuming no redemptions by CF III stockholders, the transaction is expected to deliver up to $455 million of gross proceeds, including the contribution of up to $230 million of cash held in CF III’s trust account. The transaction is further supported by a $225 million fully-committed PIPE anchored by strategic and institutional investors including GM Ventures, Subaru-SBI, Intel Capital, Hella Ventures, Taiwania Capital, and other undisclosed investors to be announced.

All cash remaining in CF III at the closing of the transaction after paying off transaction expenses and CF III liabilities is expected to be used to retire debt and to add cash to AEye’s balance sheet for working capital, growth capex and other general corporate purposes.

AEye shareholders will retain 100% of their equity holdings in the combined company.

MHE, founded in 2008, is a joint venture between Halla Holdings, the parent company of Mando, and German automotive parts supplier HELLA, each holding 50% stake in MHE. Mando has entered into the share purchase agreement (SPA), acquiring 100% of the equity from both Halla Holdings and HELLA at KRW 165 billion. The transaction, approved by each party, is expected to close in the 1^st quarter of 2021.

According to industry experts, Mando will strengthen its competitiveness by internalizing the automotive electronics parts business’s infrastructure with the complete acquisition of MHE. In terms of products, Mando will not only expand its ADAS product line including the completion of a full line-up of ADAS radars but upgrade its electronically controlled Chassis products through the utilization of approximately 140 R&D personnel within MHE. This will allow Mando to respond to the electrification and autonomous driving trends proactively. Besides, Mando expects to expand its global footprints as it will utilize MHE’s overseas manufacturing facilities and sales networks. In particular, it is an excellent opportunity for Mando’s ADAS division to secure a wide range of customers from global mobility startups to major automotive manufacturers, not only in China and India, where MHE’s production bases are located but also in North America. In addition to the product and the regional expansion, reduction in manufacturing cost and increase in quality competitiveness are expected through vertical integration of the two companies. Furthermore, close cooperation between R&D personnel of both companies in all areas of design, demonstration, and production will enhance the capabilities in developing advanced products and mass production. 

MHE is a 50:50 joint venture between Halla Holdings of Korea and HELLA of Germany. The company is engaged in manufacturing and developing of automotive electronic parts (DAS — Driver Assistance Systems) and Electronic Control Units (ECU) for ABS, ESC, and EPS. MHE has R&D manufacturing facilities in Incheon Songdo International City and recorded consolidated sales of KRW 651.2 billion in 2019.