The WSJ announced today that smart-lock company Latch is getting SPAC'ed (i.e. going public). The deal, which is sponsored by commercial real estate firm Tishman Speyer, values the company at about $1.56 billion.
One of the things that is attractive about Latch is that they're a lot more than just a smart-lock company. They really bill themselves as being a "full-building operating system." Their platform, called LatchOS, offers everything from access door solutions to guest/delivery management.
If you operate a multi-family apartment building, one of the first things that you would like to do away with is all of your suite entry keys. They are a pain to manage. So smart entry locks are a huge value-add. I guess that's why 1 in 10 apartments in the US are now being built with LatchOS, according to the company.
Another thing that is attractive about Latch is that they operate as a SaaS/subscription service. So reoccurring revenue and (probably) a higher multiple. Given that changing all of the locks in a big apartment building is no simple task, there are also some natural barriers to churn.
To learn more about today's announcement, you can check out the WSJ or TechCrunch.