Virgin Orbit Nears SPAC Merger: What Investors Should Know

A highly anticipated SPAC merger could be announced within the coming weeks, according to Sky News.

What Happened: Virgin Orbit, a satellite launch company owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin, could announce a SPAC merger, the report said. 

The company is 80% owned by Virgin Group and 20% owned by Mubadala, the sovereign fund of Abu Dhabi.

NextGen Acquisition Corp II NGCA is in exclusive talks with Virgin Orbit and could value the company at $3 billion, according to Sky. 

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart is a former executive for the space segment of Boeing BA, working for the plane manufacturer for over 34 years.

Related Link: Jeff Bezos Vs. Richard Branson: Who Will Get To Space First? 

Why It’s Important: Virgin Orbit was spun off from Virgin Galactic SPCE four years ago. Virgin Galactic went public in a SPAC merger in 2019.

NextGen Acquisition II is led by former Goldman Sachs GS banker George Mattson, who serves on the board of directors for Virgin Galactic. Mattson also serves on the Delta Air Lines DAL board. 

Virgin Orbit received some positive momentum last week with United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson posing in front of the company’s launch rockets ahead of the G7 summit.

Virgin Orbit launched 10 small satellites into space in January and is scheduled to launch more by the end of June.

The company is one of only two commercial small satellite operators to hit that milestone. The company’s main competitor is Rocket Lab, which is going public via a SPAC merger with Vector Acquisition Corp VACQ.

Virgin Orbit plans to launch satellites from locations in California, Guam and Japan, with additional locations being considered.

NGCA Price Action: Shares of NGCA were trading 6.04% higher to $10.36 at last check Monday. 

Disclosure: Author is long shares SPCE.

Photo courtesy of Virgin Orbit.