Hesai Group Charges Forward with IPO Pricing: Week in Brief: 02/10/23

Lidar technology company Hesai Group announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 10 million American Depositary Shares (ADS), at $19 per ADS, for a total offering size of $190 million. Each ADS represents one class B ordinary share of the company. The ADSs are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol HSAI. The offering is expected to close on Feb. 13, subject to customary closing conditions.

ELKRIDGE, Md. — Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne Technologies Inc., has been awarded a $13.3 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense to further expand capabilities of its R80D SkyRaider unmanned aerial system (UAS) to autonomously perform chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance missions. Teledyne will also design and build prototype chemical and radiological sensor payloads for the R80D SkyRaider, as well as integrate existing detectors in the U.S. Army’s inventory. This effort builds on three years of investment by several joint program offices to develop new and improved UAS capabilities for CBRN missions.

PITTSBURGH — Coherent Corp. is transferring the listing of its common stock and its 6.00% series A mandatory convertible preferred stock to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from the Nasdaq Stock Market. The company expects to cease trading on the Nasdaq at the close of trading on Wednesday, Feb. 22, and to begin trading on the NYSE Thursday, Feb. 23.

RESTON, Va. — CACI International Inc. signed a five-year cooperative R&D agreement with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center to further the development of advanced payload technologies, space sensor applications, and resilient positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). CACI previously announced a 2023 satellite launch to test a multimission small satellite payload. The payload includes two software-defined technology applications that enable precise, resilient PNT and tactical signals intelligence capabilities while in low Earth orbit.

SAN FRANCISCO — Orbital Sidekick (OSK), a space-based hyperspectral intelligence company, closed a $10 million investment round from strategic investors to commercialize its asset monitoring solution, which enables the energy sector to further enhance monitoring and mitigating pipeline emissions. The funding will also support the deployment of OSK’s GHOSt Constellation, a fleet of satellites equipped with best-in-class hyperspectral sensors launching later this year.

AUSTIN, Texas — TAU Systems, a producer of ultrafast compact plasma accelerators, signed a suite of agreements with the University of Texas at Austin. The collaboration uses UT Austin’s tabletop terawatt laboratory laser system to expedite breakthroughs in disease prevention and cures, semiconductor chips, and more. The sponsored research agreement allows TAU and university personnel to work together to develop fundamental elements of laser-plasma interaction. A patent license agreement signed by both parties grants TAU an exclusive license to future patents on laser-plasma interaction for particle acceleration.

TAU Systems and University of Texas at Austin team. Courtesy of TAU Systems.

LEESBURG, Va. — Quantum Computing Inc., a full-stack photonics-based quantum computing and solutions company, received a subcontract award from SSAI to support NASA in testing one of its proprietary quantum photonic systems for remote sensing applications. Under the subcontract, the project will begin with laboratory testing over the coming months and, upon completion of those tests, will move on to airborne testing with the ultimate goal of positioning the lidar units on satellites to create a network for monitoring global snow levels.

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Center for Quantum Science and Technology at Tel Aviv University has built a ground station for tracking, sensing, hyperspectral imaging, and optical and quantum communication with satellites in orbit around Earth. The station, which the university said is the first in Israel, includes a satellite observatory dome with a diameter of about 14 ft, a tracking system, a primary high-speed camera, secondary tracking cameras, laser equipment, single-photon detectors, and a tracking robot that can carry two telescopes simultaneously.

Ziath’s Mirage 2D barcode rack scanner. Courtesy of Ziath.

BURLINGTON, Mass. — Life science technology company Azenta Inc. acquired Ziath Ltd. and its subsidiaries. Ziath is a provider of 2D barcode readers. The transaction is expected to be accretive to non-GAAP earnings in fiscal year 2023 and GAAP earnings in fiscal year 2024. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

TOKYO — AGC and Saint-Gobain are collaborating on the design of a flat glass line expected to significantly reduce direct CO₂ emissions. As part of the project, AGC’s patterned glass production line in Barevka, Czechia, will be transformed into a state-of-the-art line that targets to be 50% electrified and 50% fired by a combination of oxygen and gas. The technology is expected to be implemented on the line by the second half of 2024.