Columbus Circle Capital Corp II, a SPAC led by the management team of Inflection Point Asset Management and Cohen & Company Inc., has entered into an agreement with Elroy Air Inc. that will result in Elroy Air becoming a publicly traded company.
The transaction values Elroy Air at an $800 million pre-money valuation and an expected post-closing enterprise value of approximately $1 billion. The deal includes more than $165 million in committed PIPE financing, which the company expects will fully fund commercial-scale production of its Chaparral autonomous cargo aircraft with manufacturing partner Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. Elroy Air, based in the U.S., develops autonomous heavy-cargo vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for defense, commercial logistics and rapid-response applications. Its flagship Chaparral platform is designed to transport more than 500 pounds of cargo over distances of up to 450 miles using a hybrid-electric propulsion system.
Barclays is serving as financial and capital markets advisor to Elroy Air and lead placement agent on the PIPE, with Cantor and Cohen & Company Capital Markets acting as placement agents. Cantor and Cohen & Company Capital Markets are also serving as financial and capital markets advisors to CMII. DLA Piper LLP (US) is acting as legal counsel to Elroy Air, White & Case LLP is advising CMII (Nasdaq: CMII) and Inflection Point, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal advisor to the placement agents.