Canadian space hardware maker Com Dev has said it is in talks with potential buyers two months after postponing the IPO of its maritime tracking venture exactEarth.
Canadian space hardware maker Com Dev has said it is in talks with potential buyers two months after postponing the IPO of its maritime tracking venture exactEarth.
Responding to press speculation, the group said it has been involved in negotiations with third parties about possible strategic transactions with the help of financial adviser Canaccord Genuity.
The announcement came after Reuters reported on 7 October, when Com Dev had a market cap of about US$264m, that it was in the final stages of an auction process.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the report added that Com Dev had approached companies including Comtech Telecommunications, Honeywell International, L-3 Communications and Thales about a deal.
Neither would comment on the speculation.
Com Dev did not disclose details about the potential buyers but said talks were ongoing and it could offer no assurance that any transaction would take place. It does not intend to make any further comment unless there is a deal to announce.
The news helped its shares to soar 27% to close at C$5.69 (US$4.35) yesterday in the biggest jump since June 2003.
Com Dev filed a preliminary prospectus to list exactEarth on 23 June, but paused it on 31 July as it blamed challenging conditions in the capital markets following a turbulent week for the Toronto Stock Exchange.
ExactEarth’s owners, Com Dev with 73% and Hisdesat with 27%, said they were fully committed to its business plan and would continue to look at public and private funding options to grow it.
They had planned to raise about US$60m from the listing, with proceeds due to be used to repay about US$35.5m of debt that exactEarth owes them, as well as helping to fund its expansion plans.
Canaccord Genuity was working on the IPO, and was hired earlier in the year to consider options that also included potential merger and acquisition opportunities.
Com Dev posted Q3 2015 revenues up 15% to C$58.4m (US$44.7m) last month, compared with C$50.8m (US$38.9m) for Q3 2014. Adjusted EBITDA was C$7.9m (US$6m), compared with C$7.8m (US$6m) for the corresponding period last year.
Its exactEarth subsidiary doubled revenues to C$7.7m (US$5.9m), and grew its adjusted EBITDA from C$0m in Q3 2014 to C$2m (US$1.5m) for Q3 2015.
