Australian satellite operator NewSat has announced that it has secured export credit funding from Coface in the amount of US$102.74m for its Jabiru-1 satellite project.
The Coface guarantee is aimed at supporting a syndicated debt facility to be…
Australian satellite operator NewSat has announced that it has secured export credit funding from Coface in the amount of US$102.74m for its Jabiru-1 satellite project.
The Coface guarantee is aimed at supporting a syndicated debt facility to be provided principally by Standard Chartered in order to finance the launch of the satellite by Arianespace. The launch of Jabiru-1 on an Ariane 5 rocket is expected to take place in Q4 2014.
The nascent satellite operator has also received final approval from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for a US$280m direct loan. The approval came after a 35-day Congressional notification and comment period.
This financing will go towards Lockheed Martin’s construction of Jabiru-1 and follows a six-month period of due diligence by Ex-Im and its advisers into NewSat.
However, the company also stated that “as previously announced, a key condition to financial close of the Ex-Im Bank and Coface debt facilities is further funding in the amount of approximately US$200m.”
“At the general meeting of shareholders to be held next Monday 23 July 2012, the company will seek approval to raise that amount of ordinary equity.”
The operator added that it is looking to equally split this funding between equity and mezzanine debt to minimise dilution to existing shareholders as much as possible.
Commenting on the transaction, CEO Adrian Ballintine said: “The Coface and Ex-Im Bank deals are significant milestones towards the launch of Jabiru-1. Demand for Jabiru-1 satellite capacity continues to surpass expectations, with binding pre-launch customer contracts now over US$600m and a future sales pipeline of over US$500m across the Jabiru fleet.
“The Jabiru-1 satellite at 70% utilisation is expected to generate more than US$3bn revenue over 15 years life of the satellite. Considering satellites in the geography of Jabiru-1 are mostly in excess of 90% utilisation, NewSat’s projections are realistic and achievable,” he added.
ArgoSat Advisors has been hired for advice on the satellite project, while Lazard acted as financial adviser.
Lockheed is six months into the satellite build and has completed the preliminary design review. Astrium announced on 19 July that it has won a contract to supply telecoms products, including Ku-band communications receivers and Ka-band beacons, for Jabiru-1.
The equipment to be supplied uses technology developed for the Generic Flexible Payload (GFP) programme, supported by the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
“This contract is a new milestone for Astrium in the US market and the first contract from Lockheed Martin for this type of equipment,” stated the aerospace subsidiary of EADS.
Besides Jabiru-1, which will deliver capacity to the Middle East, Africa and Asia, NewSat has plans for a further three birds. A Ku-band hosted payload aboard the Measat-3b satellite, Jabiru-2 is due to be launched in 2014. It is expected to co-located with Jabiru-1 at 91.5E to target the Australian oil, gas and mining as well as government markets with the payload.
Jabiru-3 and -4, two Ka-band satellites, are planned to be launched in 2016 and 2017 respectively with one placed at 54E and the other at 89.5E. Both birds will target the military, government and carrier-grade telecoms markets.
