Milbank Closes $210 Million Satellite Financing
Successful Closing for ProtoStar Ltd. Brings the Company a Critical Step Closer to Launching its Asian Satellite Service
WASHINGTON, DC, November 15, 2006 – In a challenging high-yield debt market, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP successfully closed a US$210 million satellite financing for ProtoStar Ltd., thus bringing the company a critical step closer to launching its Asian satellite service.
The funds will be used by path-breaking satellite services provider ProtoStar to acquire, launch and operate geostationary (GEO) satellites in order to lease capacity to Direct-To-Home (DTH) providers in the rapidly growing Asian DTH market, including in India, Singapore and the Philippines. Milbank has represented ProtoStar almost since its inception and has assisted the company in virtually all aspects of the development of its satellite business.
ProtoStar, which is a Bermuda corporation with principal U.S. operations in San Francisco, also raised $90 million in equity in a companion financing, and thus has completely funded its program to launch and have fully operational its GEO satellites by early 2008. Jefferies & Company, Inc. served as placement agent for the debt financing which consisted of $160 million of senior secured convertible notes sold to leading institutional investors.
Commenting on the overall transaction, Glenn S. Gerstell, head of the communications team of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, and managing partner of the Firm’s Washington, DC office, stated, “When you combine the inherent challenges in any financing for a start-up venture, the volatility of the high-yield debt market, and the risks always present in the satellite industry, you have a lot of hurdles to overcome. So there was a heightened level of complexity for the bankers and lawyers who put this deal together. Surmounting these hurdles was exactly what we had to do for our client, and it was great to work on a transaction that will expand DTH service in the fast-growing Asian markets, particularly for countries such as Indonesia and Singapore where it is difficult for many people to obtain TV service. And for Milbank, we were pleased to be able to harness our Asian offices to assist with the company’s development of its satellite business.”
The Milbank team representing ProtoStar was led by partners Glenn S. Gerstell and James H. Ball and associates Steven I. Chung, Ellie J. Kwack and Gavin McKeon of the Washington, D.C. and New York offices. The ProtoStar transaction was a multi-office effort. Other team members included Mark Francini, Peter Nesgos, Dara Panahy, Sally Ting, Andrew Walker and David Zemans, who have been assisting ProtoStar in both its financing and satellite development activities.
Milbank’s Global Satellite and Telecommunications Team is a regular winner of “Deal of the Year” awards and is also recognized as one of the leading satellite and telecoms practices worldwide.
About Milbank
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a preeminent global law firm that for more than 140 years has provided innovative legal solutions in many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first-ever” corporate transactions and litigation. Our transactional expertise includes capital markets, corporate finance and transactions, project finance, acquisition finance, and other major fields of law practice. Milbank litigation teams resolve disputes involving mergers and acquisitions, proxy battles, financings and securities offerings, intellectual property, white collar crime, and corporate restructurings, among others. Our clients range from prominent multinational financial, industrial and commercial enterprises to governments, institutions and individuals. The Firm is headquartered in New York, with offices in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing.