TAMPA, Fla. — Lynk Global plans to list shares on Nasdaq to expand its direct-to-smartphone constellation by merging with Slam Corp, a publicly traded shell company led by former professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez.
The Falls Church, Virginia-based venture said Dec. 18 it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Rodriguez’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to form a group they expect to be valued at $800 million.
The companies are still working out details of their combination, Lynk vice president of government affairs Tony DeTora told SpaceNews, and it is too early to speculate how much the satellite operator could raise from the deal.
Lynk currently provides intermittent texting and other low-bandwidth connectivity services with three pizza-box-shaped satellites in parts of the Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, and Palau via partnerships with local mobile operators.
DeTora said the six-year-old venture is preparing to launch two more small satellites on SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rideshare mission early next year to improve coverage and latency.
The company needs more funds behind plans to ultimately reach 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, enough to provide continuous services worldwide so telco partners can keep subscribers connected beyond the reach of cell towers — including across regions with higher average revenue per user, such as the United States.
A spate of early-stage space companies have raised sizable funds for their capital-intensive businesses in recent years through a SPAC merger, which does not require the level of due diligence involved in a traditional IPO process.
However, many space companies that recently merged with a SPAC have missed revenue targets, helping to cast a dark cloud over this fundraising tool as their shares heavily underperform the broader public market.
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