Luminar sale approved despite last-minute mystery bid

Just before a bankruptcy judge was set to approve the sale of Luminar’s lidar business, an unidentified party submitted a last-minute bid that significantly exceeded the leading $33 million offer from MicroVision. Despite the higher amount, Luminar’s leadership and legal teams found “infirmities” in the mysterious bid, which was reportedly from an “insider purchaser,” likely company founder Austin Russell. Russell had previously attempted to reacquire the company before its bankruptcy following his resignation as CEO. Ultimately, Luminar chose to proceed with MicroVision’s $33 million bid, and the judge approved the sale alongside the sale of Luminar’s semiconductor division to Quantum Computing Inc. These transactions are expected to close soon, marking the end of Luminar as a company. MicroVision’s CEO Glen DeVos expressed optimism about integrating Luminar’s lidar technology and engineering talent into his company, which previously lacked long-range sensing capabilities critical for automotive applications. MicroVision aims to leverage Luminar’s existing commercial relationships with automakers,