June Mergers & Acquisitions
June 7 – Astra Space, Inc. (Astra) announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire Apollo Fusion, Inc. (Apollo), a developer of hall thruster (ion) propulsion systems, for up to $145m, based on $50m in stock and cash and potential earn-outs of $10m in employee incentive stock, $10m in cash for meeting technical milestones and $75m in stock and cash for achieving revenue milestones. Astra’s aim is to expand its addressable launch market by accessing technology to deliver satellites beyond low Earth orbit. Following closing, Apollo will continue to operate as a separate business.
June 15 – Space-Communication Ltd. (Spacecom) announced that Hungary’s 4iG Plc. will acquire a 51% ownership interest in Spacecom through a private placement transaction valued at roughly $65m based on a price of $2.62 per share, reflecting a 68% premium above Spacecom’s average share price. In a separate development, on June 29, Spacecom announced that it entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Canada-based rural connectivity provider NuRAN Wireless Inc. (NuRAN) whereby Spacecom will acquire a 9.3% ownership interest in NuRAN for $3.2m, subject to conclusion of commercial agreements for the provision of Spacecom capacity to NuRAN and Spacecom exclusivity rights over NuRAN’s future Africa business, among other conditions.
