Perfect Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Provident Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose company. The deal sets the valuation of Perfect Corp. at $1.02 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022 and Perfect is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol PERF. The business combination is expected to provide Perfect Corp. with up to $335 million in gross proceeds, including $50 million from concurrent private investment in public equity [PIPE] transaction, $55 million from forward purchase agreements, and $230 million currently held in trust by Provident, which is subject to applicable shareholder redemption rights.
The PIPE transaction is anchored by several investors including Chanel, CyberLink, Shiseido and Snap, as well as financial investors. The forward purchase agreements were entered into at the time of Provident’s initial public offering and committed by long-term institutional investors Ward Ferry Management and other investors including an affiliate of Provident.
Proceeds will fuel enhancing Perfect Corp.’s AR and AI SaaS solutions, extending its market reach beyond beauty and fashion industries, and accelerating its global expansion, including product try-on, facial diagnostics, and digital consultation solutions.
Alice Chang, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Perfect, commented, “Perfect Corp. is transforming the beauty and fashion industries. We democratize the shopping experience for consumers and brands with our leading AR and AI SaaS solutions. At the same time, we empower brands large and small to provide their customers with an enjoyable, convenient, and personalized omnichannel shopping experience through innovative technologies. Current consumer trends, such as increasing penetration of omnichannel consumption, hygiene awareness, and focus on ESG, provide us with favorable tailwinds to accelerate growth and adoption of our services. By combining with Provident, we expect to not only attain access to the public capital markets, but also attract more world-class investors, enhance our corporate governance, expand our market reach, increase development in AI & AR technology and explore white space, such as adjacent fashion verticals and metaverse applications of our technologies.”
Founded in 2015, Perfect is the world’s leading provider of AI and AR SaaS solutions to the beauty and fashion industries. With 44 granted patents and other pending patent applications, Perfect’s enterprise solutions are utilized by 95 percent of the world’s top 20 global beauty groups and over 400 beauty brands in more than 80 countries. Perfect’s consumer apps have also achieved over 950 million downloads globally and enabled over 10 billion virtual product try-ons annually.