Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/defense-firm-york-space-systems-225934111.html
York Space Systems Inc., a space and defense firm backed by AE Industrial Partners, is seeking to raise as much as $544 million in an initial public offering.
The company is offering 16 million shares for $30 to $34 each, according to a filing Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. At the top of the price range, the company would have a market value of about $4.25 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in the filing.
The IPO is expected to price on Jan. 28, according to people familiar with the matter. A representative for York Space declined to comment.
York Space’s potential listing comes as companies in the space and defense sectors have been stepping up first-time share sale activity, spurred by increasingly fierce competition among several countries including the US. Any debut would come months ahead of a planned SpaceX IPO that could be the biggest-ever listing, Bloomberg News has reported.
Several firms in the sector went public last year, with mixed results. Karman Holdings Inc.’s listing raised $582 million, and its shares have surged nearly 400%. By contrast, Firefly Aerospace Inc. stock has plunged more than a third since its $999 million IPO.
Founded in 2012 by Chief Executive Officer Dirk Wallinger, York Space makes and operates spacecraft and satellites for government and commercial customers. The company’s clients include the Pentagon, the US Air Force and the Space Development Agency. York Space has flown 74 missions and logged over four million on-orbit hours.
The Denver-based firm had a comprehensive loss of $54.9 million on revenue of $280.9 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared with comprehensive loss of $73.1 million on revenue of $176.9 million a year earlier, according to the filing.
The IPO is expected to reduce AE Industrial Partners’ economic interest in the company to 24%, though the firm is expected to retain a majority of the voting power. The Florida-based firm had weighed selling York Space in a deal that could have valued it at more than $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported in April.
The company filed for the IPO under the name Yellowstone Midco Holdings II, and will convert into a corporation with the name York Space Systems Inc. prior to the offering’s closing.
York Space’s offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. The company plans for its shares to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol YSS.