Thursday, 10 September 2020
3:00 pm UK time / 10:00 am US Eastern time
Alongside virtually every industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has created financial headwinds for the satellite industry with some members seeking reorganization due to the pandemic and other factors. The question is whether the industry – or specific subsectors of the industry — is at a financial crossroads or if the several instances of industry members seeking to restructure are isolated examples of an industry otherwise in good health. While most everyone has an opinion, key will be the people who have to make the case for investment and those who have to decide if the case is persuasive.
Creating the investment story, and deciding whether to make the investment, might be the typical business development chronology. It is certainly a starting point for discussion of satellite’s relationship with the finance markets. However, , the reality is that the financing of space-related business ventures is different from that of most non-space businesses, particularly when involving the space segment. The economics and financing of satellites is a very large and complex topic. Not only does it require the traditional business planning exercise plus a very large up-front investment before revenues can be realized, financing satellites involves government policy issues (e.g., on spectrum usage and regulation), insurance, dual-use technologies, national security & defence, and increasingly, responsibilities for maintaining space sustainability through the disposal of satellites at end-of-life. It therefore requires dedicated know-how and structuring.
To explore satellite’s relationship with the finance markets – and the extent to which changes within the industry arising out of the evolution and growth in GEO, MEO and LEO is impacting this relationship – it is necessary to understand: (1) the economic characteristics of, and major trends in, the satellite industry; (2) changes in the structures of a financial sector which attracts a variety of investors ranging from institutional investors to venture capital firms to even individuals; (3) the elements of business plans for satellite communications (and other satellite applications); and (4) key issues in the markets for satellite-based applications, i.e., growth within current user markets, expansion into new existing markets, and catalysing the emergence of entirely new areas of economic activity.
This webinar will help to clearly define a large number of questions and the panel – moderated by Dara Panahy, Partner, Milbank LLP, and comprising Chris Quilty, President, Quilty Analytics; John Apostolides, Investment Partner, Melody Investment Advisors LP; and, Mark Boggett, CEO, Seraphim Space Fund – will aim to provide the answers.
Dara Panahy leads Milbank’s Transportation and Space Group in Washington, D.C., bringing to the webinar his experience in representing satellite operators, aerospace manufacturers, launch services providers, communications companies, banks, private equity firms and hedge funds in debt and equity offerings, project, structured and vendor financings, mergers & acquisitions, financial restructurings and in negotiating commercial contracts.
Chris Quilty is widely acknowledged as the leading Wall Street analyst on the Satellite & Space sector. He is founder and partner at Quilty Analytics, a boutique dedicated to research, strategy, and investment banking for the Satellite & Space ecosystem, with decades of research, M&A, and financing transaction experience in the industry.
John Apostolides is an Investment Partner at Melody Investment Advisors, with 17 years of experience as an investor and investment / merchant banker. Melody, founded in 2019, is an alternative asset manager focused on mission-critical communications infrastructure. The firm invests through direct asset ownership, as well as by developing tailored financing solutions to complex problems for leading global communications companies.
Mark Boggett’s team at London-based venture firm Seraphim Capital manages the Seraphim Space Fund, a pioneering US$90m fund backed by a range of leading space corporates such as Airbus, SES and Telespazio seeking investments in space related start-ups. He is also director of Seraphim Space Camp an accelerator backed by Rolls Royce, DSTL, Inmarsat, ESA and UK Space Agency.
