Alliance 2-1a rocket taking off from the Eastern Space Launch Site
[Aerospace News reported on November 20] Yiwang Company announced on November 20 that it would provide a contract to a group of owners led by Pakistani Global and the British government. The sale has been completed, allowing the company to go out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the US Bankruptcy Code under the leadership of a new chief executive officer (CEO). The company said it has completed "all relevant regulatory approvals." Badi Global and the British government each hold 42.2% of this broadband satellite constellation company, and most of the remaining shares are held by SoftBank and Hughes Network Systems.
The completion of the sale is accompanied by a change in the company's leadership. Yiwang said that Neil Masterson will succeed Adrian Steckel as the company's CEO. Masterson comes from outside the aerospace and telecommunications industry circles and has been with Thomson Reuters for the past 20 years. His latest position is joint chief operating officer. He said that he is looking forward to helping the Yiwang team realize its vision of bringing online services to all parts of the world, while achieving business goals. He said that Yiwang has a strong social purpose to improve access to information in the world, and he agrees with this purpose. Steckel, who started serving as the CEO of Yiwang in 2018, will continue to stay with the company as an advisor to the board of directors.
Badi Global and the British government won the bid for Yiwang with a bid of 1 billion US dollars in July. A US bankruptcy court approved the sale on October 2. The company has been going through the final approval procedures ever since. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the transfer of the satellite and ground station licenses of a network to the company’s new owner on October 27.
Pritchard Kelly, Vice President of Supervisory Affairs of OneNet, predicted in a webinar on November 18 that the company is going through the rest of the formalities and will now go out of bankruptcy protection "at any time."
The British government argued that the acquisition of Yiwang is in line with the overall strategy of developing the British aerospace industry. British Business Secretary Sharma said: "This strategic investment demonstrates the government's commitment to the long-term development of the British space industry and our ambition to keep the United Kingdom at the forefront of the latest advancements in space technology."
For Badi Global, an Indian telecommunications company, this transaction can bring it an opportunity to take advantage of billions of dollars in investment made by Yiwang's original shareholders. The company’s founder and chairman of the board of directors Sunil Bardi Mittal said: “Together with our British government partners, we realize that Yiwang has a valuable and priority global spectrum, and we can benefit from The US$3.3 billion has been invested and benefited from the satellites that are already in orbit, which guarantees our right to use." Z2z
Yiwang also confirmed that it will resume satellite launches and plan to use Soyuz rockets from the east of Russia on December 17. The space launch site launched 36 satellites. The company hopes to deploy a complete constellation of approximately 650 satellites into orbit by the end of 2022, and to open initial services in the Arctic region by the end of 2021.
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