The Russian aerospace manufacturer Energia RSC has emerged as the most likely candidate to acquire Sea Launch and bring it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Speaking at the Satellite 2010 conference in Washington DC, Sea Launch president Kjell…
The Russian aerospace manufacturer Energia RSC has emerged as the most likely candidate to acquire Sea Launch and bring it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Speaking at the Satellite 2010 conference in Washington DC, Sea Launch president Kjell Karlsen confirmed that the company was in exit financing talks with a strategic investor besides Space Launch Services, the special purpose entity created by Excalibur Almaz that has provided Sea Launch with US$25m debtor-in-possession financing. (see below for more details on Excalibur Almaz)
When asked whether the unnamed strategic investor was Energia in an interview with SatelliteFinance, Karlsen said that he could not comment, except to say: “Given that we are going to have as is the prime contractor, to have Energia in an ownership role would be a benefit.”
A source monitoring the deal told SatelliteFinance that the timing of the eventual outcome for Sea Launch “depends on how quickly Energia wants to move.”
Energia was already a shareholder in Sea Launch prior to the Chapter 11 filing in 2009. As the manufacturer of the Zenit rocket used by Sea Launch, it is the party with the most to gain from Sea Launch returning to commercial operations.
Other industry sources have informed SatelliteFinance that Energia is almost certain to take control of Sea Launch in a manner not dissimilar to the way in which another Russian manufacturer, Khrunichev Space Centre, took control of International Launch Services in 2008.
This places the Sea Launch takeover firmly under the wider consolidation of assets within the Russian space industry that has taken place over the last three years.
It is not yet clear how Excalibur Almaz, the prospective human spaceflight company behind Space Launch Services, will figure in an Energia-led Sea Launch. The most likely outcome is that it will be will compensated for its provision of DIP financing, but the possibility remains that it will take control of a small stake in the company.
Karlsen said that Sea Launch aimed to finalise its term sheet with both interested parties by the end of the month so that it could file a reorganisation plan in early April, with a view to emerging from Chapter 11 in late May or early June.
The Sea Launch President stated that the sum required to take Sea Launch out of Chapter 11 is US$140-150m, including the DIP financing. Much of this figure will go towards restoring hardware production to full scale.
He also revealed that prior to the emergence of Space Launch Services as a provider of DIP funding, a consortium was put together by Eutelsat, Intelsat and SES to provide similar financing in order to keep the company operational while in Chapter 11.
However, the chances of the big operators actually getting involved in Sea Launch’s exit financing are very remote.
“It was very clear when we dealt with these parties that they don’t necessarily want to be our lender,” said Karlsen. “They also don’t want to be an owner, but they would like to support us with new contracts. We’ve had serious talks with all three of them about how we can structure new contracts that can give them adequate protection in case we don’t emerge.”
