Export Compliance Daily is a Warren News publication.

Velodyne Lidar Shares Tumble After Merger With Blank Check Firm

Velodyne Lidar began trading on Nasdaq Wednesday under VLDR after closing a reverse transaction with blank check company Graf Industrial Tuesday. (see 2007020036). Shares dropped 24% Wednesday to $18.69. Graf had been trading on the New York Stock Exchange; the…

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.

decision to list on Nasdaq was made “to be listed alongside the other innovative technology companies,” it said. Velodyne is delivering lidar for markets including smart city with smart intersections, security, mobile 3D mapping, industrial and factory robotics, smart agriculture, sidewalk delivery and drones, it said Wednesday, citing “growing demand” in the emerging markets. The company’s Automated with Velodyne program supports an integrator ecosystem to commercialize next-generation autonomous solutions. A Sept. 22 SEC filing listed as risk factors the pandemic, rapidly evolving markets and Velodyne's transition to an outsourced manufacturing business model. It sees lidar as the “industry standard for autonomous vehicles and other emerging markets, [but] market adoption of lidar is uncertain,” it noted. Management includes CEO Anand Gopalan, Chief Financial Officer Drew Hamer, Chief Technology Officer Matt Rekow and Chief Marketing Officer Marta Hall.