Self-driving truck startup Plus to go public through $3.3 billion SPAC deal

Plus said on Monday it would go public through a merger with blank-check company Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V in a deal that values the self-driving truck technology startup at $3.3 billion.

The combined company will get proceeds of $500 million from the deal, including a private investment of $150 million. Investors in the deal include BlackRock and D.E. Shaw group, among others.

In February, Plus raised $200 million in a funding round, co-led by brokerage Guotai Junan International and private equity firm CPE, according to data from Pitchbook.

Founded in 2016, California-based Plus manufactures an automated driving system for heavy trucks, called PlusDrive, that can be installed on trucks or attached as a feature to trucks in production, according to its website.

Hennessy Capital Investment raised $345 million when it went public in January this year.

A SPAC is a company with no regular business operations but with a pool of capital raised through an IPO that it uses to take a private firm public.

Plus will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PLAV" after the deal closes in the third quarter this year.

Goldman Sachs was the financial adviser to Plus and Barclays Capital advised the SPAC on the deal.