NEWARK, N.J. - AeroFarms, a vertical farming specialist, has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company.  

Upon closing of the transaction, AeroFarms will become publicly traded on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol "ARFM.” The combined company will be led by David Rosenberg, co-founder and chief executive officer of AeroFarms. 

“At AeroFarms, our mission is to grow the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity, and we are executing on this by taking agriculture to new heights with the latest in technology, innovation and understanding of plant science,” said Rosenberg. “Our technology empowers our operations – this is how we get closer to where the problems, opportunities and solutions are. With the support of Spring Valley, we not only have the capital in place to execute our plan, but also a sponsor who shares the same ESG philosophies to make a positive impact on the world, while serving the interests of our shareholders.” 

Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, the transaction is valued at a fully diluted pro forma equity value of approximately $1.2 billion assuming no redemptions by Spring Valley shareholders. The PIPE offering was anchored by leading institutional investors, AeroFarms insiders and Pearl Energy Investments, the sponsor of Spring Valley. The transaction will provide approximately $317 million of unrestricted cash at close to fund future farm development and general corporate purposes. 

The transaction was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Spring Valley, as well as the Board of Directors of AeroFarms, and is subject to satisfaction of closing conditions, including the approval of the shareholders of Spring Valley. 

AeroFarms’ Investment Highlights: 

  • $1.9 trillion total addressable market opportunity within AeroFarms’ core leafy greens market and other adjacencies. 

  • Proprietary technology and industry leadership with proven innovation and design evolution through five generations of farm models supported by an experienced team and a robust portfolio of over 250 invention disclosures. 

  • Data science driven and fully controlled technology platform enables AeroFarms to better understand plants and optimize farms, while improving quality and reducing costs. 

  • Commercially selling leafy greens with a brand that is already winning at retail, providing customers with a premium product with superior quality, flavor, taste and texture. 

  • Grown over 550 varieties of produce to date and working with key strategic partners to use its growing platform to address broader problems in agriculture. 

  • Strong projected financial performance driven by demonstrated farm key performance indicators (KPIs) and an accelerated farm rollout schedule. 

Through its innovative growing platform, AeroFarms goal is to solve issues brought on by macro challenges such as population growth, water scarcity, arable land loss, health consciousness, and supply chain risks like the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The company has developed patented and award-winning technology in areas such as plant biology, mechanical design, environmental control, data science, operations, and plant genetics. Through the integration of those disciplines, AeroFarms achieves up to 390 times greater productivity per square foot annually versus traditional field farming while using up to 95% less water and zero pesticides, according to the company.