Israeli Semiconductor Valens To Go Public At Over $1B Valuation

Israeli company Valens, a fabless semiconductor company focusing on high-speed connectivity for uncompressed HD multimedia content (HDBaseT) in the audiovisual and automotive markets, has entered into an agreement with PTK Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company, to go public on the New York Stock Exchange at a valuation of $1.16 billion.

Valens made the announcement on Tuesday and said it will trade under the symbol “VLN” following the close of the transaction, expected later this year.

Founded in 2006, Valens is based in Hod Hasharon, Israel, with offices in the US, Europe, and Asia. Valens chipsets transmit video and data at multi-gigabit bandwidth over long-reach, space-efficient wiring infrastructure. Its award-winning HDBaseT technology has become the leading standard in the professional audio-video market with millions of Valens’ chipsets integrated into thousands of HDBaseT-enabled products, the company says. Its solutions for the auto industry, Valens Automotive, is a key enabler of the evolution of autonomous driving, providing chipsets that are on the road in vehicles around the world.

“Valens sets the bar in every industry we touch. Our chipsets are in high volume production with several leading automotive Tier-1s and are currently on the road in Daimler vehicles,” said company CEO Gideon Ben-Zvi. “The automotive market presents an immense opportunity that will continue to grow as OEMs introduce new vehicles with far more sensors and displays than ever before.”

Ben-Zvi added that Valens’ upcoming standard-compliant chipsets were “poised to revolutionize the global automotive industry with connectivity solutions for infotainment applications, ADAS systems and autonomous driving.”

Peter Kuo, CEO of PTK Acquisition Corp., stated, “With Valens, PTK identified a rare opportunity to combine with a company that is defining the future of connectivity and is validated by multiple industry standards. With a proven track record of success, Valens is public-company ready, with a large addressable market, marquee customers, and a compelling business model with a high degree of revenue visibility.”

Following the completion of the transaction, Valens will continue to be led by its management team with Ben-Zvi as CEO, Dror Heldenberg as CFO, and all six founders retaining their senior management or board positions. Ker Zhang from PTK will join the Valens board of directors.