Shares of Churchill Capital Corp XI (NASDAQ:CCXI) climbed 14% on Wednesday after the special purpose acquisition company reached a definitive agreement to combine with Agility Robotics, a developer of humanoid robots. The transaction places a pre-money equity value on Agility of $2.5 billion.
The proposed combination is structured to provide Agility with more than $620 million of gross proceeds. That amount includes $420 million of cash currently held in Churchill XI's trust account, assuming no investor redemptions, alongside approximately $200 million of additional financing arranged through a committed common stock private investment in public equity, or PIPE, priced at $10 per share. Foxconn is identified as the lead investor in the PIPE, which also draws participation from both existing and new institutional investors.
When the transaction closes, the merged company will operate under the Agility Robotics name and is slated to list on a major North American exchange using the ticker symbol "AGLT." The companies expect to complete the deal in 2026, although closing remains contingent on approval by Churchill XI shareholders, review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, other regulatory clearances, and standard closing conditions.
Agility Robotics is known for Digit, a humanoid robot deployed in manufacturing, distribution, and logistics settings. Customers named in connection with current deployments include Schaeffler, GXO, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, and Mercado Libre. The company says Digit has accumulated more than 65,000 hours of operation across nine customer sites.
Agility reports it has secured in excess of $300 million of multi-year orders for Digit v5, its next-generation robot, although these orders remain subject to certain contractual milestones. Strategic investors and partners listed include DCVC, NVIDIA, Amazon, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Schaeffler, Foxconn, Abico, and Playground Global.
Proceeds from the transaction are intended to be used to satisfy current customer orders, expand commercial deployments, scale production of Digit v5, and continue investment in Agility's robotics platform. Existing Agility shareholders will roll their equity into the combined company and will be subject to a 180-day lock-up period following close.
Both boards of directors at Agility and Churchill XI have unanimously approved the proposed business combination.
Context for markets and sectors
- Robotics, automation, and logistics sectors are directly affected by the transaction through potential acceleration of commercial deployments and production scale-up.
- Financial markets tied to special purpose acquisition companies and PIPE financing activity will be influenced by the structure and investor participation in the deal.