Space SPAC: Seraphim-backed satellite firm Spire makes New York debut
Space investor Seraphim has announced its portfolio company Spire, which provides satellites for space, has debuted on the New York Stock Exchange after becoming the latest space company to close a merger via SPAC.
Spire has merged with special acquisition company NavSight Holdings, which valued the satellite firm at $1.6bn in equity.
The new combined company, named “Spire Global”, began trading in New York under the ticker symbol SPIR on Tuesday, and its share price stood at $9.68 in after hours trading, gaining a little ground since it slid by 5.2 per cent during the day’s trading to close at $9.41 a share.
Spire has about $265m in cash on its books after the close of the deal, down from the $408m the company expected to receive when it announced the merger in March.
Upon closing, Spire had about $265m in cash on its books – significantly under the $408m it expected when it announced the merger in March. Of this amount, around $245m came from a private investment round (PIPE) and $20m came in cash held in trust by NavSight.
After completing the deal, Spire became the fourth space company to go public via SPAC this year, following in the footsteps of Texas-based AST SpaceMobile, rocket builder Astra and Momentus, whose SPAC merger with Stable Road Acquisitions was announced last week.
Spire, which bills itself as a space-as-a-service company, or a “leading space-powered data, analytics, and space services company”, has launched more than 100 cubesats into space and currently has 110 Lemur satellites in operation – on of the world’s largest constellations of satellites at low earth orbit (LEO).
Its satellites help provide the data and analytics required for weather predictions and forecasting, and for aircraft and ships tracking and navigation.
Spire CEO and co-founder Peter Platzer said: “We are focused on strengthening our ability to provide our customers with more data, faster, so that they can make better informed decisions about their missions and businesses, as well as some of the most pressing issues facing humanity today, including climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
It comes just over a month after Seraphim’s own oversubscribed London IPO, in which it raised £178.4m, as people piled in to have a share in the booming space tech investment space.
Billionaire Richard Branson was one of those who bought a stake in Seraphim, which is at the forefront of the space investment scene.
Private investors injected a hefty $6.5bn into space tech in the first six months of the year, racking up 172 transactions – compared to 221 in the whole of 2020, according to Seraphim data.
In the UK, investors’ eyes are all over the space sector after the government renewed its outdated policies and began regulating commercial space travel at the end of last month.
Several more space companies are expected to go public via SPAC this year.