Rockley Photonics to go public, focus on healthcare market
Silicon photonics company Rockley Photonics, Ltd. has announced plans to go public through an agreement to combine with SC Health Corp. (NYSE: SCPE), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The transaction, expected to close in the second quarter of this year, subject to approval by SC Health's shareholders and other customary closing conditions, including any applicable regulatory approvals, would provide a pro forma value for the combined company of $1.2 billion. Rockley now will focus most of its attention on building devices for the consumer healthcare and medical markets.
If approved, the deal will see Rockley shares traded on the NYSE under the symbol RKLY. The transaction is expected to deliver as much as $323 million to the combined company, a figure that includes up to $173 million in cash held in SC Health’s trust account. The combined company also will benefit from a $150 million PIPE at $10.00 per share, with participation from such institutional investors as Senvest Management LLC and UBS O’Connor as well as participation from Medtronic.
While Rockley has tried its hand at applying its expertise to data communications and machine vision applications such as LiDAR, the company is now touting itself as a provider of “clinic-on-the-wrist technology.” Rockley has developed silicon photonics based sensor technology that it says can enable continuous, non-invasive monitoring of such biomarkers as lactate, glucose, hydration, blood pressure, and core body temperature. Rockley is discussing providing this technology, as well as co-packaged hardware devices, biosensing algorithms, firmware, and data analytics, to consumer electronics and wearables companies.
“Our partnership with SC Health positions us to accelerate our time-to-market for our compelling health and wellness solutions,” commented Dr. Andrew Rickman, Rockley’s founder and CEO, who will perform CEO and chairman duties in the combined company. “Our proven sensor technology, world-class partners, and a relentless focus on execution will enable Rockley to deliver life-changing benefits to an enormous number of people. We believe that bringing laboratory diagnostics to the wrist will transform patient monitoring, healthcare delivery, and overall consumer health and wellbeing.”
While the spotlight will be on healthcare and medical applications, Rockley won’t completely mothball its work in optical communications. For example, the company will continue to support its optical transceiver joint venture with Hengtong (see “Rockley Photonics, Hengtong Optic-Electric form joint venture for optical transceiver module manufacturing”). Rockley also sees data communications as among “other potential avenues for growth,” according to information provided by the company’s PR firm.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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