AEye Inc (LIDR)

[WeTheMarket]

AEye Attracts World-Class Talent to Board in Preparation for Listing on Nasdaq in Q3, May 13 2021 - 07:00AM
Business Wire https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NASDAQ/cf-finance-acquisition-c-CFAC/stock-news/85098552/aeye-attracts-world-class-talent-to-board-in-prepa

New Directors Bring Extensive Public Governance, Legal, and Financial Management Experience and Deep Domain Expertise in Automotive, Aerospace, and Defense Markets

AEye, Inc., (“AEye”) the global leader in active, high-performance LiDAR solutions, today announced the nomination for election of four new board members effective upon the closing of its previously announced merger with CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III (Nasdaq: CFAC), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald. The new board is expected to be chaired by Carol DiBattiste, with Timothy J. Dunn serving as chairman of the audit committee and Professor Dr. Bernd Gottschalk and Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann serving as additional independent board members, along with current AEye board members Wen Hsieh of Kleiner Perkins and company executives Blair LaCorte, CEO, and Luis Dussan, Founder and CTO.

These appointments follow the recent additions of General Counsel Andrew Hughes, Chief of Staff Brent Blanchard, and COO Rick Tewell to the company’s executive team as AEye scales its operations to meet growing demand for its active LiDAR systems.

“We are honored to have these industry leaders agree to join the AEye board at this pivotal stage of our expansion,” said Luis Dussan, Founder and CTO of AEye. “Carol, Tim, Bernd, and Karl will bring deep knowledge and connections in their respective industries, and will be invaluable resources as we deepen our reach and impact in multiple verticals, including automotive, trucking, industrial and mobility. Our groundbreaking active LiDAR system, highly effective partner go-to-market strategy and exceptional leadership – both at the management and board level – position AEye strongly for the next level of growth and to drive the future of safe autonomy.”

New Board Members

Carol DiBattiste is an experienced public and private company senior executive, with a background in heavily regulated markets and government agencies. She most recently served as chief legal and compliance officer and corporate secretary for NASDAQ-listed Comscore. She has served in senior leadership positions in five publicly traded companies. Also, her top leadership operating positions include: Under Secretary of the United States Air Force; Deputy Administrator of the TSA; Executive in Charge/Vice Chair, Board of Veterans Appeals (VA); and Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (DOJ). She serves on a public and private company board and is Directorship Certified by the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Timothy J. Dunn has more than two decades of public company financial management leadership experience, and is currently a senior advisor, and formerly an operating partner, for TPG, a private equity firm in San Francisco. Previously, he was CFO of Hotwire.com, CFO for the Gap Division of Gap, Inc., and held a number of senior management positions during his 12-year tenure with PepsiCo, Inc. Prior to PepsiCo, he was with Price Waterhouse & Co., and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the State of California. Tim has served on private and public company boards, including chair of the audit committee for two TPG portfolio companies – Ellucian and Vertafore.

Professor Dr. Bernd Gottschalk brings decades of experience in the German automotive industry, including 25 years with Daimler AG. He has held numerous executive leadership positions at OEMs, including as an executive board member for Daimler AG, where he was responsible for the commercial vehicles business unit globally. Dr. Gottschalk was also president of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and serves on the Board of Directors of Schaeffler Group, Plastic Omnium, and Jost Werke.

Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann is also an automotive industry veteran. He was CEO of the German automobile manufacturer Opel (formerly GM Europe) from 2013 to 2017, and held multiple positions with Volkswagen AG, including head of research, director of electronics strategy, and CEO of Volkswagen Group China. Neumann was also CEO of the German auto supplier Continental AG, where he was responsible for the automotive systems division and took company-wide responsibility for electric propulsion.

Investor Day Scheduled

Today AEye also announced that it will host a virtual Investor Day on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. The event will begin at 11am Eastern/8:00 a.m. Pacific and is expected to conclude at 12:15 Eastern/9:15 a.m. Pacific. The virtual format will feature presentations from AEye executives, including CEO Blair LaCorte, Co-Founder, President and CTO Luis Dussan, Chief Scientist Dr. Allan Steinhardt, COO Rick Tewell, and CFO Bob Brown. Perspectives on LiDAR from key players in the automotive, industrial, and mobility markets will also be shared at the event.

AEye previously announced a merger with CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III (Nasdaq: CFAC) (“CF III”), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald. The combined company will be called AEye Holdings, Inc., and AEye shareholders have elected to retain 100% of their equity holdings in the combined company. Upon closing, AEye will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LIDR”.

AEye LiDAR

AEye’s active LiDAR system overcomes the pitfalls of conventional LiDAR with a uniquely intelligent approach called iDAR™ (Intelligent Detection and Ranging). This high-performance, active, LiDAR has set standards for LiDAR range, resolution and speed across all major metrics. iDAR is based on a bi-static architecture - which keeps the transmit and receive channels separate: as each laser pulse is transmitted, the solid-state receiver is told where and when to look for its return – enabling deterministic artificial intelligence to be introduced into the sensing process at the point of acquisition. Ultimately, this establishes the iDAR platform as active – allowing it to focus on what matters most, while simultaneously monitoring the vehicle’s surroundings, resulting in greater reliability, safety, and performance at longer range and lower cost.

About AEye

AEye is the premier provider of high-performance, active LiDAR systems for vehicle autonomy, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and robotic vision applications. AEye’s AI-enabled and software-definable iDAR™ (Intelligent Detection and Ranging) platform combines solid-state active LiDAR, an optionally fused low-light HD camera, and integrated deterministic artificial intelligence to capture more intelligent information with less data, enabling faster, more accurate, and more reliable perception. The company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and backed by world-renowned financial investors including Kleiner Perkins and Taiwania Capital, as well as GM Ventures, Continental AG, Hella Ventures, LG Electronics, Subaru-SBI, Pegasus Ventures (Aisin), Intel Capital, SK Hynix and Airbus Ventures.

About CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III

CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III (“CF III”) is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses CF III focuses on industries where its management team and founders have experience and insights and can bring significant value to business combinations. CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick.

About Cantor Fitzgerald

CF III is sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald. Cantor Fitzgerald, with over 12,000 employees, is a leading global financial services group at the forefront of financial and technological innovation and has been a proven and resilient leader for over 70 years. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is a preeminent investment bank serving more than 5,000 institutional clients around the world, recognized for its strengths in fixed income and equity capital markets, investment banking, SPAC underwriting and PIPE placements, prime brokerage, and commercial real estate and for its global distribution platform. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is one of the 24 primary dealers authorized to transact business with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Cantor Fitzgerald is a leading SPAC sponsor, having completed multiple initial public offerings and announced multiple business combinations through its CF Acquisition platform. For more information, please visit: www.cantor.com.

Important Information and Where to Find It

This press release relates to a proposed transaction between CF III and AEye. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. In connection with the transaction described herein, CF III has filed relevant materials with the SEC, including a Registration Statement on Form S-4, which includes a proxy statement/ prospectus, and intends to file additional relevant materials with the SEC. The proxy statement/ prospectus, when final, will be sent to all CF III stockholders. CF III also will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and security holders of CF III are urged to read the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction.

Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by CF III through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to CF III to 110 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022 or via email at [e-mail] or at [phone].