Filed by Churchill Capital Corp XI pursuant to Rule 425
under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14a-12
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
Subject Company: Churchill Capital Corp XI (File No. 001-43020)
Set forth below is an article published by CFO Brew, discussing the proposed business transaction between Churchill Capital Corp XI (“Churchill”) and Agility Robotics, Inc. (“Agility”).
For Agility Robotics’s CFO, a new gig means immediate IPO prep
First comes the new hire paperwork, then comes an IPO.
By Natasha Piñon
August 17, 2026
Michael Beer is new on the job. Like, might-have-trouble-finding-the-bathroom new.
Yet even if he started his new gig as CFO of Agility Robotics, a humanoid robotics company, just a few weeks ago, Beer isn’t remotely new to the top finance seat or high-growth tech companies: Most recently, he served as CFO and head of corporate services at Energy Vault Holdings, an energy storage solutions company.
There was a time, however, when Beer might have had more trouble than just finding the bathroom if he stepped into a finance chief role.
“I didn’t necessarily come up through the Big Four accounting track, nor did I really come up through the more traditional FP&A path,” he told CFO Brew. Instead, Beer spent “15 years on the institutional sell side. Everyone from Goldman Sachs to Benchmark to Bear Stearns to Wolfe Research to Citibank.”
He’s thankful now for the “unique perspective” that the world of investment banking and equity research provided, and his comfort “working with analysts [and] investment bankers [to help] translate external expectations into internal milestones” is about to prove especially useful: In June, Agility Robotics announced its intention to go public via a SPAC merger with Churchill Capital that would value the company at around $2.5 billion.
How’s that for an onboarding task?
Public facing. Beer isn’t totally new to the process. After leaving banking and equity research, he joined Luminar Technologies, which made sensors for autonomous vehicles, when the company was “in stealth, and we raised about $250 million as a private company” before going public “through the SPAC process in December of 2020,” Beer explained. Beer was there until 2021; Luminar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025 after losing a contract with Volvo.
Beer’s next experience—he was CFO at FreeWire Technologies, an EV charging company, from 2021 to 2024—continued to expand his understanding of the CFO role. “It’s no longer about just ones and zeros. It’s about looking around corners. It’s about taking a three-year-plus view and understanding the general time which it takes to accomplish some of [a company’s] goals and being able to attune one’s antennae appropriately,” he told us.
And to that end, Beer’s IPO prep work has already started at Agility, in part by simply taking stock of what going public really means in 2026. “A lot of companies do look at going public as a means to an end,” he said. “That’s not our philosophy here.”
“We don’t view this go-public transaction as an exit, by any stretch of the imagination,” he added. “This is really the starting line. It’s a way to facilitate our ability to access capital in the markets, but also to raise our profile with our customers, our vendors.”
Helping hands. Agility, led by former Microsoft exec Peggy Johnson, is going public before other standalone humanoid robotic companies, so “there’s also a thought leadership angle here, in being first, and being able to have a seat at the table as we help shape policy and so forth across a host of different verticals where we’re commercially deploying the product,” Beer added. Amazon.com, GXO, Schaeffler, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada are customers.
For now, Beer and his team “are heads down on executing on all of the little sub-milestones that go into a successful listing,” he said, adding that the company has filed its S-4 confidentially. While having Churchill Capital as a partner in the process has helped alleviate some of the burden, the other big internal task is “scaling the team for all of those new roles and functions that will certainly be required as a public company.”
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“We want finance and accounting to really be that solid foundation,” he added. “We’re very data driven in our approach, and obviously we want to cultivate and engender a lot of trust with the investment community [by] being highly transparent in the way in which we communicate both our milestones and what we hope to achieve in the coming quarters and coming years.”
Relatedly, Beer isn’t particularly fazed by potential changes to the reporting process because of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to make quarterly reporting optional.
“We have our own monthly and quarterly close process today as a private company,” he said. “We go through those motions almost regardless [of] who the external audience is.”
“To the extent that companies want to change…their reporting cadence, that’s their decision,” he added. “But we’ll continue to do our normal close process and obviously adhere to all reporting requirements.”
Spoken like an old pro—and not someone who presumably just finished his new hire paperwork.
About Agility Robotics, Inc.
Agility’s commercially deployed humanoids operate alongside teams in warehouses, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers – tackling physically demanding and repetitive tasks while enabling workers to focus on higher-value work. With industry-leading safety standards and years of proven deployment data, we’re pioneering a new era of automation that enhances human potential. To learn more, visit www.agilityrobotics.com.
About Churchill Capital Corp XI
Churchill is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. It may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry.
Additional Information About the Proposed Transaction and Where to Find It
The proposed transaction will be submitted to shareholders of Churchill for their consideration. Churchill intends to file a registration statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which will include preliminary and definitive proxy statements to be distributed to Churchill’s shareholders in connection with Churchill’s solicitation of proxies for the vote by Churchill’s shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction and other matters to be described in the Registration Statement, as well as the prospectus relating to the offer of the securities to be issued to Agility stockholders in connection with the completion of the proposed transaction. After the Registration Statement has been filed and declared effective, a definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents will be mailed to Agility stockholders and Churchill shareholders as of the record date established for voting on the proposed transaction. Before making any voting or investment decision, Churchill and Agility shareholders and other interested persons are advised to read, once available, the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus and any amendments thereto and, once available, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus, as well as other documents filed with the SEC by Churchill in connection with the proposed transaction, as these documents will contain important information about Churchill, Agility and the proposed transaction. Shareholders may obtain a copy of the preliminary or definitive proxy statement/prospectus, once available, as well as other documents filed by Churchill with the SEC, without charge, at the SEC’s website located at www.sec.gov or by directing a written request to Churchill Capital Corp XI, 640 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10019.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This communication includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target,” “continue,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “would” or similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. We have based these forward-looking statements on current expectations and projections about future events.
These statements include: statements relating to, without limitation: our ability to consummate the Merger and PIPE Investment and the satisfaction or waiver of the closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement and Subscription Agreement; the occurrence of any other event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement or Subscription Agreements; projections of market opportunity and market share; estimates of customer adoption rates and usage patterns; projections regarding Agility’s future development plans; the timing and success of Agility’s future development plans; the ability of Agility to implement its strategic initiatives and continue to innovate its existing products and services; the potential for share price appreciation; the expected timing of announcement and close of the potential transaction; Agility’s economic opportunity and total addressable market; the expected amount of gross transaction proceeds and the planned pre-money valuation of Agility; expectations regarding Agility’s ability to attract, retain and expand its customer base; Agility’s deployment of proceeds from capital raising transactions; Agility’s expectations concerning relationships with strategic partners, suppliers, regulatory bodies and other third parties; Agility’s ability to maintain, protect and enhance its intellectual property; future ventures or investments in companies, products, services or technologies; development of favorable regulations affecting Agility’s markets; the potential benefits of the proposed transaction and expectations related to its terms and timing; and the potential for the combined company to increase in value.
These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions, many of which are beyond the control of Agility and Churchill.
These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause Churchill’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include: that Agility is pursuing an emerging technology, faces significant technical challenges and may not achieve commercialization or market acceptance; Agility’s historical net losses and limited operating history; Agility’s expectations regarding future financial performance, capital requirements and unit economics; Agility’s use and reporting of business and operational metrics; Agility’s competitive landscape; Agility’s dependence on members of its senior management and its ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the potential need for additional future financing; Agility’s ability to manage growth and expand its operations; potential future acquisitions or investments in companies, products, services or technologies; Agility’s reliance on strategic partners and other third parties; Agility’s ability to maintain, protect and defend its intellectual property rights; risks associated with privacy, data protection or cybersecurity incidents and related regulations; the use, rate of adoption and regulation of artificial intelligence and machine learning; uncertainty or changes with respect to laws and regulations; uncertainty or changes with respect to taxes, trade conditions and the macroeconomic environment; the combined company’s ability to maintain internal control over financial reporting and operate a public company; the risk that the proposed transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price of Churchill’s securities; the failure by the parties to satisfy the conditions to consummation of the proposed transaction, including the approval of Churchill’s shareholders; the possibility that required regulatory approvals for the proposed transaction are delayed or are not obtained, which could adversely affect the combined company or the expected benefits of the proposed transaction; the risk that shareholders of Churchill could elect to have their shares redeemed, leaving the combined company with insufficient cash to execute its business plans; the level of redemptions of Churchill’s public shareholders; the ability of Agility to grow and manage growth, maintain relationships with customers and retain its management and key employees; costs related to the proposed transaction; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the business combination agreement; the outcome of any legal proceedings or government investigations that may be commenced against Agility or Churchill; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction; Agility’s estimates of expenses and profitability; the evolution of the markets in which Agility competes; the ability of Churchill or the combined company to issue equity or equity-linked securities in connection with the proposed transaction or in the future; and other factors described in Churchill’s filings with the SEC. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact such forward-looking statements can be found in filings and potential filings by Agility, Churchill or the combined company resulting from the proposed transaction with the SEC, including under the heading “Risk Factors.” If any of these risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. In addition, these statements reflect the expectations, plans and forecasts of Agility’s and Churchill’s management as of the date of this communication; subsequent events and developments may cause their assessments to change. While Agility and Churchill may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, they specifically disclaim any obligation to do so. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon these statements.
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In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect Churchill’s beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this communication, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and Churchill’s statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
An investment in Churchill is not an investment in any of Churchill’s founders’ or sponsors’ past investments, companies or affiliated funds.
The historical results of those investments are not indicative of future performance of Churchill, which may differ materially from the performance of Churchill’s founders’ or sponsors’ past investments.
Participants in the Solicitation
Churchill, Agility and certain of their respective directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees may, under SEC rules, be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Churchill’s shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of Churchill’s shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction will be set forth in proxy statement/prospectus statement when it is filed by Churchill with the SEC. You can find more information about Churchill’s directors and executive officers in Churchill’s final prospectus related to its initial public offering filed with the SEC on December 16, 2025. Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests will be included in the proxy statement/prospectus statement when it becomes available. Shareholders, potential investors and other interested persons should read the proxy statement/prospectus statement carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions. You may obtain free copies of these documents from the sources described above.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This communication is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, a prospectus, an advertisement or a public offering of the securities described herein in the United States or any other jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or exemptions therefrom. INVESTMENT IN ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE SEC OR ANY OTHER REGULATORY AUTHORITY NOR HAS ANY AUTHORITY PASSED UPON OR ENDORSED THE MERITS OF THE OFFERING OR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
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