Blank Rome Assists SPAC Novus with Billion Dollar Agtech Buy

Blank Rome said it’s representing Novus Capital Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, on its merger agreement with AppHarvest, Inc., an Appalachia-based farm operator that aspires to transform American agriculture with large-scale, controlled indoor farms.

The agreement is slated to make AppHarvest a Nasdaq-traded public company. SPACs have recently become an increasingly popular way of bringing companies public outside of the traditional initial public offering process.

Cooley is representing AppHarvest on the transaction, valued at an estimated $1.0 billion.

AppHarvest operates a Dutch-style 60-acre controlled environment agriculture facility in Morehead, Ky., which according to a statement announcing the deal, is ...