DLA Piper advises Navitas Semiconductor in SPAC closing with Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II

DLA Piper represented Navitas Semiconductor, the industry leader in gallium nitride power integrated circuits (GaN power ICs), in the recent closing of its business combination with special purpose acquisition company Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II.

The combined company is expected to be listed on the NASDAQ on October 20, 2021, with its common stock and warrants trading under the new ticker symbols “NVTS” and “NVTSW,” respectively.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a next-generation semiconductor technology that runs up to 20 times faster than legacy silicon and enables up to three times more power and three times faster charging in half the size and weight. Navitas GaNFast™ power ICs integrate GaN power and drive plus protection and control to deliver simple, small, fast and efficient performance.

“We were pleased to bring to bear our market-leading M&A and SPAC capabilities and tech sector experience to help facilitate this complex transaction for our client,” said Jonathan Axelrad, the DLA Piper partner who led the firm’s deal team. “I have represented Navitas throughout its entire history as a company, and DLA Piper is proud to have supported Navitas through multiple rounds of financing and international expansion, and as it enters this next phase of its business.”

In addition to Axelrad (San Francisco), the DLA Piper deal team representing Navitas also included partners John Maselli, Jeffrey Selman (both of San Francisco), Peter Ekberg (Minneapolis), SeoJung Park, Sang Kim (both of Silicon Valley), Christina Houston (Wilmington), Christopher Feldman and Andrew Ledbetter (both of Seattle); senior counsel William Hoffman (Silicon Valley); associates Nathalie Hoegger, Adyasha Das (both of Silicon Valley) and Sougol Shooshtarian (San Francisco); and attorney Eileen Rhein (San Francisco); as well as Micheál Mulvey, Maura Dineen, Dara McDonald, and Patrick O’Donovan in Dublin.

With more than 1,000 corporate lawyers globally, DLA Piper helps clients execute complex cross-border transactions seamlessly while supporting clients across all stages of development. The firm has been rated number one in global M&A volume for 11 consecutive years, according to Mergermarket. The firm advises on all elements of complex SPAC and other public M&A transactions, including M&A, tax and securities. DLA Piper has advised on more than 30 SPAC transactions, with an aggregate value of over US$20 billion, in the past three years.

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