Dive Brief:
- Agility Robotics is on track to go public this week after Churchill Capital Corp XI’s shareholders approved a previously announced $2.5 billion combination with the industrial humanoid maker.
- In a meeting Monday, the special purpose acquisition company’s shareholders overwhelmingly supported the transaction, which received more than 84% favorable votes, according to a news release. Agility has raised $465 million in capital funds as part of the deal, allowing it to enter the public markets with minimal or no debt.
- The transaction and related stock financing is expected to close on Wednesday. The combined company will operate as Agility Robotics and its common stock will begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol AGLT on Thursday, according to the release.
Dive Insight:
Agility Robotics is positioning itself to be one of the leading U.S. companies that focuses solely on industrial humanoids. It debuted its latest autonomous robot, Digit 5, in September as “the first cooperatively safe humanoid” capable of doing tasks in proximity to people outside of safety cages and work cells. Digit 5 is expected to be commercially available next year.
In the meantime, the company has already deployed its Digit 4 robots at several manufacturing and warehouse locations. Last month, it expanded its partnership with GXO Logistics to bring Digit robots to two additional facilities in North Carolina and Tennessee, and it struck a deal with agricultural machinery maker Agco to begin a pilot at its Hesston, Kansas, facility next year. Toyota and Schaeffler are also deploying Digit in their global operations.
“These experiences have taught us a great deal about safety, reliability, integration and return on investment,” Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson said on an investor call Oct. 26. “They’ve also helped us understand how a successful application in one part of a facility creates opportunities across the rest of a customer’s operations.”
The company said it has a commercial pipeline of more than 30 prospective customers across manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, defense, logistics and consumer products. Its goal is to reach 100 customers by the end of 2027, Johnson said on the call.
The company is in early talks regarding “two deals in the defense sector,” Johnson said. She is also participating in the U.S. Department of Defense’s warfare initiative led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich, called Project Meridian, serving as a consultant to research and engineering nonprofit Mitre.
“I believe humanoid robotics will help define the next industrial revolution,” Johnson said. “Its development will matter to American manufacturing, economic competitiveness and our ability to build and produce here at home.”
The Trump administration has taken steps to support domestic robotics suppliers by banning certain foreign imports over the summer and weighing potential Section 232 tariffs. Last week, President Donald Trump opted for more talks over tariffs following a 90-day investigation into the effects of imports of robotics and industrial machinery.
There are also bills going through Congress that look to establish a national robotics strategy in an effort to catch up with China, Japan and other robot-producing countries.
Currently, Agility Robotics has deployments across nine facilities, with a goal to reach 25 by the end of 2027, Johnson said.
“Going public will help accelerate our growth and give a much broader group of investors the opportunity to join our mission and to be part of what we are building,” she said.
In connection with the $2.5 billion merger, Agility Robotics raised $164 million from Churchill XI’s trust account; $201 million from a common stock private investment in public equity valued at $10 per share, led by Foxconn with participation from Agility Robotics stockholders; and $100 million of equity funding received following the initial announcement in June.
As part of the shareholder approval on Monday, Churchill XI will change its jurisdiction of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to the state of Delaware, according to the release. In addition to its common stock, Agility Robotics’ warrants are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under a separate ticker AGLTW.
