Luminar lines up $22 million bidder for its lidar business
Luminar has reached a deal to sell its lidar business to a company called Quantum Computing Inc. for just $22 million, unless it receives better offers by a deadline of 5:00 p.m. CT on Monday. The lidar-maker, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, already announced plans to sell its semiconductor subsidiary to Quantum Computing Inc. for $110 million. The deals have to be approved by the bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas before they are finalized. Luminar founder and former CEO Austin Russell has signaled interest in submitting a bid for the lidar assets and tried to buy the whole company in October, before it filed for bankruptcy. The company is currently trying to serve him with a subpoena for information stored on his cell phone, as…