# Smart-lock company Latch to go public

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2021-01-25

apartment, business, condo, development, latch, latchos, multi-family, real-estate, smart-lock-system, tech, tishman-speyer

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The [WSJ announced today](https://www.wsj.com/articles/smart-lock-maker-latch-to-use-tishman-speyer-spac-to-go-public-11611568803) that smart-lock company [Latch](https://www.latch.com/) 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](https://www.wsj.com/articles/smart-lock-maker-latch-to-use-tishman-speyer-spac-to-go-public-11611568803) or [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/25/smart-lock-maker-latch-teams-with-real-estate-firm-to-go-public-via-spac/).

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/smart-lock-company-latch-to-go-public)*