Gunderson Dettmer client Barkbox, Inc., a leading global omni-channel brand for dogs, announced its definitive merger agreement with Northern Star Acquisition Corporation, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The business combination values Barkbox at an implied $1.6 billion enterprise value. The new combined company is named “The Original BARK Company."

As of June 2, 2021, BARK is traded on NYSE under the symbol "BARK." BARK Founders Matt Meeker, Henrik Werdelin and Carly Strife will join as part of the new combined leadership with Manish Joneja as Chief Executive Officer of BARK and Chief Financial Officer John Toth.

The Gunderson deal team was led by corporate partner Melissa Marks, IPO/public companies chair Jeff Vetter, corporate partner Brooks Stough, M&A specialist John Olson, tech partner Katie Gardner, executive compensation partner James Hauser, special counsel Keith Scherer and associates Hilary Adams, Wenli Cai, Alex Khachaturian, Samuel Willie, and Amanda Ferber.