Canadian satellite imagery provider Iunctus Geomatics has acquired German earth observation firm RapidEye out of bankruptcy for an undisclosed sum.
Announcing the acquisition on 29 August, insolvency administrator Rolf Rattunde, of Berlin law firm…
Canadian satellite imagery provider Iunctus Geomatics has acquired German earth observation firm RapidEye out of bankruptcy for an undisclosed sum.
Announcing the acquisition on 29 August, insolvency administrator Rolf Rattunde, of Berlin law firm Leonhardt Rechtsanwälte, said the deal will ensure RapidEye keeps all its staff and operations in Brandenburg.
“I am particularly pleased that we could maintain 140 jobs for highly-qualified employees in Brandenburg,” said Rattunde.
“The unique high-tech company with its five optical earth satellites offers great opportunities in the future for the city and state of Brandenburg.”
According to Rattunde, in the course of the sale process the group was in negotiations with more than 20 entities from Asia to North America.
Sources had told SatelliteFinance that several investors had expressed “serious” interest in acquiring the group, and the majority of these were strategic players.
According to Iunctus Geomatics, the acquisition expands its presence in the worldwide geo-information market, through combining RapidEye’s commercial archives of satellite imagery with its distribution channels for satellite data and value-added solutions.
“RapidEye will continue to operate as an independent company, leveraging a new strong German management team in order to maintain its successful brand and relationships,” said Ryan Johnson, President and CEO of Iunctus Geomatics.
“Iunctus will continue to invest in RapidEye as we focus on creating a more customer-focused approach and additional value for our customers through our reorganisation activities.”
Manfred Krischke, who will be returning to RapidEye’s management after co-founding the company in 1998, commented: “During the next month we will review the current organisation with the most important goal of continuing and improving our service to existing and current clients and partners.”
It was not clear at the time of going to press whether Krischke will be appointed CEO of RapidEye to replace Wolfgang Biedermann, who is thought to be leaving the company.
RapidEye filed for Germany’s equivalent of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 1 June following breaches to several loan covenants.
The group was mainly backed by a banking trio comprising Germany’s KfW and Commerzbank and Canada’s Export Development Corp.
Despite the restructuring talks, RapidEye has recently been generating healthy sales, Biedermann told SatelliteFinance in an interview last month.
“We’re still on target to achieve our revenue targets for 2011,” he said at the time, adding that he anticipated further “significant growth going into 2012/2013”.
To support this growth, Biedermann also hinted that the group could raise additional financing in the near future.
He explained: “With new investors we hope to start the detailed planning phase for the next generation of satellites soon.”