Kodiak Robotics will soon begin trading on the Nasdaq after Ares Acquisition Corp. II shareholders approved its $2.5 billion special purpose acquisition company deal Tuesday, according to securities filings.
Shareholders representing nearly 67% of the voting power were present for the meeting where about 88% of the votes were cast in favor of the business combination.
Kodiak expects to be listed under the ticker symbols KDK (common stock) and KDKRW (warrants) on Thursday, Sept. 25, or close to that date, per the securities filing.
For a company founded less than a decade ago, Kodiak’s road to Wall Street nearly hit a dead end amid a rush of shareholder redemptions.
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, several of the SPAC’s investors took advantage of their right to redeem their shares, rather than become a shareholder of the combined company. This action drained Ares Acquisition Corp. II’s trust account, which Kodiak previously noted had $562 million in cash as of Aug. 18.
But after heavy redemptions — despite raising an additional $275 million — there was only $62.9 million remaining in the trust account before expenses, Ares disclosed.
Although Kodiak is not receiving as much funding as it could have from the trust, the company said Tuesday that institutional investors have funded or committed additional money of over $200 million.
“We are pleased by the support from our investors and believe the capital we’ve secured well-positions us as we move forward towards completing this transaction and becoming a public company,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak, in the Ares release.
Kodiak originally targeted a $100 million private investment in public equity, so the new money helps position the company for long-term success, Burnette said.
