LanzaTech, a Chicago cleantech firm that turns carbon waste into sustainable chemicals, is going public in a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
LanzaTech announced Tuesday that it's merging with blank-check firm AMCI Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: AMCI) in a deal that values the business at $2.2 billion, the company said. The merger is expected to close in the third quarter, and the combined company will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LNZA.”
Founded in 2005 and led by CEO Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech has developed carbon recycling technology that converts carbon waste into sustainable fuels and chemicals. Those chemicals have been used to create everyday products like fabrics and fragrances for brands including Unilever, L'Oréal, Lululemon and beauty company Coty.
Coty works with LanzaTech to create sustainable fragrances. Unliever partnered with the company to produce a new laundry detergent pod. And Lululemon uses LanzaTech's technology to create fabric in a partnership that resulted in the first fabric born from recycled carbon emissions.
LanzaTech has raised more than $400 million in outside funding. Its backers include Khosla Ventures, Novo Holdings and the Department of Energy. The company also launched a sustainable jet fuel company called LanzaJet in 2020 with backing from British Airways, Shell, All Nippon Airways and others.
The SPAC merger is expected to raise $125 million, the company said, in addition to the $150 million in cash from AMCI. LanzaTech said it will use the funds to expand the business.
In recent years, SPAC deals have become an increasingly popular way for companies to go public, though the market for SPACs has cooled over the last several months. According to Forbes, 17 SPAC deals were terminated in the last six months of 2021 compared to just four cancellations in the prior six months. Chris Senyek, senior equity research analyst at Wolfe Research, told CNBC last month that the "SPAC bubble is bursting” as deals are scrapped and companies see their shares tumble.
In Chicago, Kin Insurance canceled its SPAC deal in February and is now raising $100 million in venture funding. Meanwhile, Fast Radius, a Chicago manufacturing startup, successfully completed its SPAC deal, going public last month.
