Smart Glass Maker View Reaches Deal To Go Private, Will File For Bankruptcy
The smart glass company View Inc., once valued at $2B, announced Tuesday that it will go private and enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The company reached the agreement Tuesday with Cantor Fitzgerald, which helped View go public, RXR Realty and other stakeholders after a troubled period for the company that included financial and legal problems.
“Today’s announcement marks the culmination of a thorough strategic review of our business operations to help ensure we have the proper capital structure going forward,” View CEO Rao Mulpuri said in a release. “With the support of Cantor Fitzgerald and RXR, we intend to maximize our business potential with increased financial stability and be better positioned to increase our presence across the real estate ecosystem.”
View said in a statement that it intends to continue business as usual and estimates court approval of its plan in less than two months.
CF and RXR were among the investors in a $50M credit facility that helped View avoid threats of stock delisting that followed accounting errors in some of its financial filings.
CF CEO Howard Lutnick expressed continued faith in View's products in a statement Tuesday.
“We continue to be impressed with View’s products and software services,” Lutnick said. “Our financing is intended to allow View to continue to develop their innovative offerings for the real estate industry.”
CF made a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February indicating that View was in talks with lenders to restructure debt, including the possible sale of assets.
At the time, View had about $65.3M in cash on hand and was $227.6M in debt. In the 12 months ending in February, the company's revenues reached $128.8M but it lost $426.4M.
View went public in 2021, but trouble soon followed.
It became embroiled in a number of compliance-based issues. The company faced a $5M fine in Mississippi for incorrectly discharging wastewater, along with another $5M in fines from the Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from charges that its chief financial officer misstated the cost of replacing some of its windows by $28M. The company was still facing delisting on the Nasdaq as of the end of January, according to a filing with the SEC.
