MANCHESTER, England, & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wejo, a global leader in connected vehicle data, and Virtuoso Acquisition Corp. ("Virtuoso") (Nasdaq: VOSO), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, today announced that they have completed their previously announced merger. The combined company will operate under the Wejo name, and its common stock and warrants are expected to commence trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market at the opening of trading on November 19, 2021 under the new ticker symbols "WEJO" and "WEJOW,” respectively.
In connection with the merger and related private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing, Wejo received approximately $225.7 million in cash proceeds. Wejo looks forward to executing on its vision of building the manufacturer-agnostic industry standard in connected vehicle data by creating applications across multiple marketplaces and enriching lives around the globe.
Richard Barlow, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Wejo, said, "This is a monumental day for Wejo and the passionate members of our team who have remained steadfastly committed to our mission of utilizing data for good by solving critical mobility challenges. The closing of our merger with Virtuoso and public market listing provides us with the platform to continue to grow our relationships with OEMs and Tier 1 partners and customers, while expanding into new marketplaces, including fleet management services, end-to-end insurance, remote diagnostics, roadside assistance, car sharing, and payments. We have worked hard to position Wejo as the industry standard in connected mobility data and are confident we will continue to gain meaningful market share through the numerous addressable markets in front of us as this robust industry continues to grow."
Mr. Barlow will lead the combined company alongside the current Wejo management team. Timothy Lee, Co-Founder of Hawksbill Group, and former General Motors senior executive will serve as Chairman of the Board of the combined company. Additional members of the Board include Lawrence D. Burns, former Corporate Vice President of Research and Development at General Motors; Diarmid Ogilvy, Co-Founder of Wejo and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ValuAnalysis; Samuel Hendel, Co-Founder of Dataminr; Ann Schwister, former Vice President and CFO of North America and Greater China at Procter & Gamble; and Alan Masarek, former CEO of Vonage.
Jeffrey D. Warshaw, Chairman and CEO of Virtuoso Acquisition Corp, said, "Connected vehicle data represents a truly transformative market opportunity for the broader mobility industry, as well as other growing markets. Wejo’s advanced platform and proven ability to gather high quality in-journey connected vehicle data will further this rapidly developing industry, while also establishing new use cases for connected vehicle data across a variety of new addressable markets. We are tremendously confident in the ability of Richard Barlow and Wejo’s talented team members to build on their many accomplishments and create long-term shareholder value while also making mobility safer, smarter, and more sustainable.”
About Wejo
Wejo is a global leader in connected vehicle data, revolutionizing the way we live, work and travel by transforming and interpreting historic and real-time vehicle data. The company enables smarter mobility by organizing trillions of data points from 11.9 million vehicles and more than 60 billion journeys globally, across multiple brands, makes and models, and then standardizing and enhancing those streams of data on a vast scale. Wejo partners with ethical, like-minded companies and organizations to turn that data into insights that unlock value for consumers. With the most comprehensive and trusted data, information and intelligence, Wejo is creating a smarter, safer, more sustainable world for all. Founded in 2014, Wejo employs more than 250 people and has offices in Manchester in the UK and in regions where Wejo does business around the world. For more information, visit: www.wejo.com.
About Virtuoso
Virtuoso Acquisition Corp. is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, stock purchase or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Virtuoso is led by Jeffrey D. Warshaw, Chairman and CEO, and Michael O. Driscoll, Chief Financial Officer. For more information, visit: www.virtuosoacquisition.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this release, including statements regarding the Company’s future operating results and financial position, business strategy and plans, objectives of management for future operations are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the Company’s current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company’s business, the economy and other future conditions
Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including, without limitation, those factors described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially, and potentially adversely, from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside the Company’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) ) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business; (ii) the inability to obtain or maintain the listing of the Company’s common shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market following the proposed business combination; (iii)the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the Company to grow and manage growth profitably, and retain its key employees; (iv) changes in applicable laws or regulations; and (v) the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. The foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Additional information concerning certain of these and other risk factors is contained in Virtuoso’s most recent filings with the SEC and is contained in the Company’s Form S-4 (the “Form S-4”), which was filed on July 16, 2021 (as amended on September 7, 2021, October 1, 2021, October 7, 2021 and October 18, 2021), including the definitive proxy statement/prospectus filed in connection with the proposed business combination. A Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in their expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any statement is based, except as required by law.
