Sarcos Robotics announces merger

Sarcos Robotics, a Salt Lake City company that specializes in the development of robots that augment humans to enhance productivity and safety, has announced that it will become publicly listed through a merger transaction with Rotor Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company located in New York City. Upon closing, the combined company’s common stock is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol STRC. The transaction represents an enterprise value of $1.3 billion for the combined company, Sarcos said in a release.

Sarcos is developing mobile, highly dexterous robotic systems designed for dynamic or unstructured environments. With a focus on augmenting humans for non-repetitive tasks where human decision-making is essential, Sarcos’ robotic solutions are designed to enhance individual productivity, making physically demanding jobs safer and more accessible to more people, alleviating skilled worker shortages, and reducing the economic and social impact of occupational injuries. Sarcos expects to commercially release its Guardian XO full-body wearable industrial exoskeleton robot in mid-2022, followed later in the year by its Guardian XT highly dexterous force feedback industrial teleoperated robot.

“With end-market product applications including the aerospace, automotive, logistics, defense, maritime, oil and gas, power and utilities, construction and manufacturing industries, Sarcos is well-positioned to capture market share in the massive traditional labor markets, representing a total addressable market in U.S. industrial sectors alone of approximately $147 billion,” Sarcos’ statement said. Sarcos plans to expand its product availability globally and recently announced a memorandum of understanding to introduce its products to the Middle East and Africa.

“Sarcos is building advanced mobile industrial robotic solutions that will advance the future of the workforce,” said Ben Wolff, chairman and CEO of Sarcos. “We have a strong foundation and a clear road map to launch our next-generation highly dexterous mobile industrial robotic systems that are intended to increase productivity, save lives and reduce injuries. Our transaction with Rotor accelerates our access to resources that will facilitate our broad product launch and enable us to execute potential bolt-on acquisitions to fortify our platform and enhance our capabilities. Rotor brings significant experience in the industrial and consumer sectors and a shared vision for the future of robotics and the workforce.”

Wolff continued, “This transaction and the opportunities we believe it will create are a result of the efforts of our team. Moving forward, our team and their dedication to innovation will continue to be the ultimate drivers of our success. We want to thank our customers and business partners for their support as we enter this new chapter for Sarcos.”

“We launched Rotor Acquisition Corp. with the goal of identifying and partnering with companies that are leveraging technology and innovation to disrupt ‘old-economy’ businesses in large and growing markets,” said Stefan M. Selig, chairman of Rotor. “Sarcos fits these criteria perfectly, and we are excited to partner with them and create value by building out the Sarcos platform and bringing the company’s robotics technology to the global workforce.”

The merger, which will close in the third quarter, is expected to provide the company with up to $496 million of proceeds before expenses to fund business plans, facilitate potential bolt-on acquisitions, and enhance capabilities, Sarcos said.