The investment company Advent International announced the purchase of satellite operator Maxar Technologies. The amount of the operation will be 6.4 billion dollars.
Maxar Technologies was founded in 2017. The company has a fleet of satellites that regularly photograph the Earth’s surface. Maxar attracted the attention of the whole world in 2022 after the start of regular publication of pictures of the consequences of hostilities in Ukraine and traces of war crimes in the occupied territories.
According to a published press release, the acquisition of Maxar will help “accelerate the company’s investment and development of next-generation satellite technologies and data analytics for its customers.” Advent International will buy all of the satellite operator’s outstanding common shares for $53 each. That’s more than double their price as of Dec. 15 — last full trading day of Maxar’s as a public company. The transaction is expected to be finalized by mid-2023.
It is worth noting that the purchase should not affect the status of Maxar. At this time, the company is the main supplier of satellite images for the US government. In 2022, it signed a $3.2 billion contract with the US National Reconnaissance Office. Under its terms, Maxar will provide it with images of the Earth’s surface for the next ten years.
You can also read about SpaceX’s plans to create a Starshield satellite platform for military use.