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Software Firm Brivo Nears SPAC Deal With Crown PropTech

Brivo is in advanced discussions to merge with blank-check company Crown PropTech Acquisitions.

Software Firm Brivo Nears SPAC Deal With Crown PropTech
Surveillance cameras are mounted outside a shopping mall in Beijing, China. (Photographer: Yan Cong/Bloomberg)

Brivo Inc., a maker of security software for buildings, is going public through a merger with blank-check company Crown PropTech Acquisitions. 

The company’s announced a deal on Wednesday valuing the combined entity at around $800 million, including debt, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. 

Founded in 1999, Bethesda, Maryland-based Brivo sells security software including access control and video-surveillance services to property owners. The company’s cloud-based system targets enterprises, general commercial users as well as residential buildings, said Steve Van Till, chief executive officer of Brivo. 

“We’re really interested in working with a strategic partner and Crown Proptech originated as a prop-tech focused SPAC,” said Van Till. “The connection that they have with the world of real estate owners and operators is a really important part of what we’re trying to do here.”

Brivo counts Amazon.com Inc.’s Whole Foods, Salesforce.com Inc. and fitness center Solidcore among customers, its website showed.

Latch Inc., a provider of smart-access systems, went public in a SPAC merger earlier this year at a valuation of $1.56 billion, according to a statement. Van Till said the two companies aren’t necessarily direct rivals as Latch focuses on residential, or so-called multi-family buildings.

“We don’t see them showing up in enterprise or in commercial. That’s not to say they never will,” he said. 

Brivo was acquired by former Barracuda Networks chief executive officer Dean Drako in 2015 for $50 million, according to a statement at the time. 

Crown PropTech, a special purpose acquisition company, raised $276 million in February, according to a statement. It’s an affiliate of New York-based real estate holding company Crown Acquisitions, its website showed

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.