Virgin Orbit to go Public through SPAC at a Valuation of $3.7 billion

Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson’s satellite-launching venture, is preparing to go public, as announced on Monday.The company is merging with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company.

It trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker “NGCA” until the deal is expected to finalize near the end of the year, at which point the shares will change to “VORB.”Virgin Orbit is valued at $3.7 billion in equity by the SPAC, which is chaired by George Mattson and Gregory Summe.

Virgin Orbit is anticipated to raise $483 million from the deal, which includes a $100 million PIPE round – or private investment in public equity – led by Boeing and private equity firm AE Industrial Partners.The corporation is privately controlled by Branson’s international conglomerate Virgin Group, with minority ownership from Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala, and is a subsidiary of Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic.

By 2024, Virgin Orbit expects to be profitable on an EBITDA basis. According to the company, it has around $300 million in ongoing contracts and $2.3 billion in “identified sales opportunities” that are presently being explored. The company’s core rocket business, according to CEO Dan Hart, will expand to roughly 18 launches in 2023.This year’s sales are expected to be at $15 million, with an EBITDA loss of $156 million. Virgin Orbit, on the other hand, plans to rapidly increase revenue in the next years, with a revenue prediction of $2.1 billion by 2026.