In-flight broadband provider Gogo has secured a US$135m credit facility through Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.
Gogo, which filed for a US$100m IPO back in December 2011, intends to use proceeds from the financing to fund costs associated with its…
In-flight broadband provider Gogo has secured a US$135m credit facility through Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.
Gogo, which filed for a US$100m IPO back in December 2011, intends to use proceeds from the financing to fund costs associated with its international expansion plans as well as other general corporate purposes.
Michael Small, Gogo’s president and CEO, commented: “Securing this latest round of financing is an important step in funding our international operations and helps strengthen our overall financial position.
“We recently announced a partnership deal with equipment provider AeroSat and memorandums of understanding to partner with satellite companies SES and Inmarsat that will allow us to offer commercial airlines Ku and Ka-band satellite solutions globally in the near future. Securing this credit facility will help fund those operations.”
Gogo recently announced a partnership with equipment provider AeroSat to deliver the satellite antenna, radome, antenna control and modem unit and high power transceiver.
In addition, Gogo has entered into a strategic MoU to partner with SES that will allow Gogo to lease Ku-band capacity over the United States, Atlantic Ocean and Europe from as early as the fourth quarter of 2012.
The agreement follows a similar MoU between Gogo and Inmarsat, in which Gogo would become one of two global service providers of Inmarsat’s forthcoming Global Xpress Ka-band satellite service.
Gogo plans to begin testing of the Global Xpress aeronautical services after the launch of the first of the three Inmarsat-5 satellites, which is scheduled for mid-2013. The company then expects to offer a Global Xpress Ka-band service in late 2014 or early 2015 when the full constellation has been launched.
“When finalized, these partnerships will allow Gogo to offer our airline partners a wide range of technology solutions,” added Small. “Whether it’s by using our exclusive air to ground and ATG-4 technologies, Ku-satellite or, in the near future, Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-satellite technologies; we believe we will be uniquely positioned to offer airlines a range of global connectivity service options.”
Under its former guise as Aircell, Gogo predominantly focused on air-to-ground in-flight broadband utilising a network of terrestrial cellular towers throughout North America. This meant that the majority of its commercial distribution deals with airlines have been for domestic flights by firms such as AirTran Airways, Virgin America and Delta Air Lines.
To fund its initial expansion, Gogo raised more than US$500m since 2006 from private investors including Ripplewood Holdings, Aloha Partners II and Blumenstein/Thorne Information Partners.
Gogo is now looking to expand its offering internationally by signing satellite Ku – and Ka-band capacity deals that will enable it to offer its services on transcontinental flights.
