SAN JOSE, Calif. – Cepton, a Silicon Valley-based company specializing in high-performance lidar solutions, has completed a $100 million investment from its long-term automotive partner and current shareholder, Koito Manufacturing. The investment, which was approved at a special meeting of Cepton stockholders on January 11, 2023, is in the form of convertible preferred stock and is convertible, beginning on the first anniversary of the issue date, into shares of Cepton’s common stock at an initial conversion price of $2.585 per share.
“We’re happy to announce the closing of the preferred stock investment as we deepen our partnership with Koito,” said Dr. Jun Pei, Cepton’s Co-Founder and CEO. “We plan to deploy the additional capital to help fund our next stage of growth, continue series production execution, and expand our collaboration efforts towards winning additional automotive OEM programs.”
Koito Manufacturing, which is a current shareholder of Cepton, is a leading automotive company that specializes in lighting and electronics products. “We’re excited to have completed our third investment in Cepton, which solidifies our commitment to lidar and increasing automotive safety for drivers worldwide,” said Mr. Michiaki Kato, Koito’s President. “This is an important year for us as we work towards commercialization and scale manufacturing of our lidar products. We have a strong track record with Cepton as a partner and look forward to achieving our mutual goal of becoming the leader within lidar.”
ICR Capital LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Cepton and O’Melveny & Myers LLP served as legal counsel to Cepton. SMBC Nikko served as exclusive financial advisor to Koito and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Nishimura & Asahi served as legal counsel to Koito. Cepton will file a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission that will include additional details regarding the close of the Investment.
