Benson Hill, Inc., a food technology company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants with its cutting-edge food innovation engine, announced the completion of its previously announced business combination with Star Peak Corp II. Concurrent with the closing, Star Peak changed its name to "Benson Hill, Inc." Benson Hill's common stock and warrants are expected to commence trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols "BHIL" and "BHIL.WS," respectively, on Sept. 30, 2021.
The business combination was unanimously approved by Star Peak's board of directors and approved by Star Peak stockholders at a Special Meeting on Sept.28, 2021.
The transaction provides approximately $319 million in gross proceeds to the company including $94 million of cash from Star Peak's former trust account and $225 million of cash from an oversubscribed and upsized fully committed common stock PIPE.
Benson Hill intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to provide balance sheet strength and flexibility to attack large and growing domestic and international markets, extend leadership position and commercial scale in plant-based ingredients, invest in additional proprietary data for CropOS®, expand product portfolio, and build synergistic channels and partnerships to accelerate growth and profitability. All of Benson Hill's shareholders have rolled 100% of their ownership stakes into the new company.
Benson Hill's current leadership team will lead the combined company, with Matt Crisp continuing as CEO. The newly combined company plans to expand its Board of Directors beginning with the appointment of Craig Rohr, Senior Managing Director at Magnetar Capital, a leading alternative asset manager with members serving as Star Peak Corp II's sponsor.
