SPAC Reinvent Technology Partners surges after merger deal to list Joby Aviation on NYSE

• Reinvent Technology Partners is set to merge with the air taxi company Joby Aviation.
• The deal will value the combined enterprise at roughly $6.6 billion.
• Funding from the merger will allow Joby Aviation to launch its air taxi service by 2024.

Shares of the special purpose acquisition company Reinvent Technology Partners surged as much as 9% on Wednesday before paring gains after the blank-check company inked a merger deal to list Joby Aviation on the New York Stock Exchange.

The deal includes $910 million of fully committed funding, including an $835 million PIPE, anchored by Uber Technologies, The Baupost Group, BlackRock, Fidelity Management & Research, and Baillie Gifford.

The combined company will take the name of the air taxi enterprise Joby Aviation and is expected to have a $6.6 billion post-money equity value.

Additionally, there will be an up to five-year lock-up agreement and price-based vesting on certain shares to "ensure unprecedented long-term alignment" from insiders.

Proceeds from the transaction are expected to fund the combined company through the start of its passenger service launch in 2024.

Reinvent's founder Reid Hoffman will also join Joby's board of directors. Hoffman now has three SPACs dedicated to the tech sector, but Reinvent Technology Partners is the first to land a deal.

The SPAC completed a $600 million IPO back in September of last year and has been looking for a partner ever since.

Hoffman said he was excited about the prospects of the air taxi service in a statement on Wednesday.

"In Joby we see a remarkable founder-led team that has quietly delivered the most advanced technology we've seen in this sector," Hoffman said.

"With valuable strategic partnerships including Toyota and Uber, a compelling business model and an unparalleled track-record of executing against its targets, we believe Joby is well-positioned to create a transformative new human-centered mobility network," Hoffman added.

Joby Aviation has spent more than a decade creating a fleet of piloted, all-electric, vertical takeoff and landing passenger aircraft.

The company has conducted over 1,000 test flights to date and hopes to "leapfrog sustainably over gridlock below" with its four-passenger, emissions-free aircraft that can travel up to 150 miles at speeds up to 200 miles per hour.

"Aerial ridesharing will drive a generational shift in how we travel this century, just as the railroad and the jet aircraft did in previous centuries," said Paul Sciarra, Executive Chairman of Joby Aviation.

Reinvent gave back most of its gains on Wednesday. The company traded up just 0.39% as of 10:42 AM ET.