Velodyne Lidar to go public in reverse merger with Houston blank-check co. Graf Industrial Corp.

Velodyne Lidar Inc. said on July 2 that it will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange in the third quarter after a reverse merger with a “blank check” company.

The San Jose, California-based autonomous vehicle sensor company said that it and Houston-based Graf Industrial Corp. have raised $150 million in equity from a group of institutional investors, subject to completion of the merger. That will be combined with up to $117 million that Graf has raised separately from its existing investors.

Velodyne’s…