Local Bounti has entered into a merger agreement with Leo Holdings 111 Corp. to achieve a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) listing.  The transactional values of the combined company will amount to $1.1 billion in equity.  The entity will trade under the NYSE symbol LOCL.  Investors in Local Bounti include Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Echo System Restoration Fund and strategic partner Cargill Inc.

Local Bounti will apply funds to enlarge their existing indoor farm in Hamilton, Montana and to establish additional production units in western U.S. states.  Local Bounti has developed technology for “vertical farming” that has obvious benefits with respect to lower area requirements, saving in water use and sustainability compared to conventional culture of produce and leafy greens.

Craig Hurlbert, co-founder and co-CEO of Local Bounti stated, “Today’s announcement takes our company to the next level in enabling local, sustainable product and delivery of fresh, delicious and nutritional produce including in regions that traditionally do not have access to local supply, starting in the western U.S. and expanding globally.”  He added, “We look forward to leveraging our proven business model as we accelerate the building of cutting-edge local production facilities that feature our proprietary intellectual property referred to as Stack and Flow®.”