CORRECTED (OFFICIAL)-Virtual tour firm Matterport raises $605 mln in blank check merger
(Corrects story to reflect corrected press release after company said it had raised $640 million, keeping $605 million in cash after transaction fees)
By Stephen Nellis
July 22 (Reuters) - Matterport Inc, a Silicon Valley firm whose 3D cameras and software power three-dimensional virtual tours of real estate listings, on Thursday said that it had raised $605 million in a merger with blank check firm Gores Holdings VI.
The deal was approved Tuesday by a special shareholder meeting of Gores Holdings VI, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, backed by billionaire Alec Gores.
The deal included $310 million from Gores Holdings VI, net of redemptions, as well as $295 million in proceeds other investors that included Tiger Global Management, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Fidelity Management & Research Co. When including $35 million in transaction fees, the deal hit the $640 million the companies aimed to generate when the deal was announced in February.
In Matterport's early days the company sold a specialized camera that real estate agents or hotel owners could use to create accurate three-dimensional walk-throughs of properties. But last year, the company released an iPhone app that allows homeowners to capture a 3D model of their home, which can have a variety of uses such as enabling contractors to bid on a remodelling project without having to visit the home.
"We signed more customers in the first three days of the beta launch than the first eight years of the company," Chief Executive RJ Pittman told Reuters in an interview.
Matterport will start trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the new ticker symbol "MTTR." (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; editing by Richard Pullin)
