(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. has placed an order for 1,000 autonomous driving systems from self-driving truck technology startup Plus and is in talks to buy a stake of as much as 20%, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The deal would give Amazon the right to buy preferred shares of Plus via a warrant at a price of $0.46647 per share, the person said, asking not to be named because the matter is private. That would amount to a 20% stake based on Plus’s shares outstanding before its planned merger with special purpose acquisition company Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V. A company filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed Bloomberg’s report.
The Sequoia Capital China-backed company, which is developing autonomous driving technology for long-haul trucking, is set to have a valuation of $3.3 billion, adding $500 million in proceeds to accelerate its expansion, the company said in a statement in May. The company raised $150 million via so-called private investment in public equity, or PIPE, from funds including BlackRock Inc. and D.E. Shaw.
Plus declined to comment via an emailed statement. A representative for Amazon said the company couldn’t immediately comment.
Cupertino, California-based Plus is among a handful of startups trying to up-end a fragmented long-haul trucking business with driverless technology. It has been working with Chinese delivery company SF Holding Co., which uses Plus-enabled trucks that can cover 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) a day, Plus said in April. State-owned China FAW Group Co. plans to start mass production of jointly-developed autonomous trucks this quarter, Plus has said.
The Hennessy SPAC raised $345 million in a January initial public offering. Chief Executive Officer Daniel J. Hennessy previously led blank-check firms that completed deals to form companies including electric-vehicle developer Canoo Inc., Blue Bird Corp., which makes school buses, and Texas-based transportation and logistics firm Daseke Inc.
Founded by a group of Stanford University classmates in 2016, Plus is backed by investors including Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., GSR Ventures Management and a Chinese long-haul company known in English as Full Truck Alliance. It also has a partnership with European truckmaker Iveco SpA and is working with Cummins Inc. on using autonomous technology in trucks powered by natural gas.
Plus raised $200 million in a funding round in February that attracted new investors such as Guotai Junan International Holdings and Citic Private Equity Funds Management Co. It raised an additional $220 million from investors co-led by FountainVest Partners and ClearVue Partners in March.
It began delivering its automated driving system PlusDrive to some customers in the U.S. and China this year.
The company recently