World View announced that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement that will result in World View becoming a publicly listed company.
The transaction values the combined company at an estimated enterprise value of $350 million. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will continue operating as World View.
World View plans to use the capital to expand its global remote sensing business into new markets and industries that stand to benefit from the unique advantages offered by remote sensing via the stratosphere, not available with traditional satellite imaging or fixed-wing aircraft monitoring.
World View will also continue developing its next-generation capabilities including its space tourism and research and education businesses.
Transaction Overview
As a result of the transaction with Leo, World View may receive up to $121 million in gross proceeds, assuming no shareholders elect to redeem their shares in connection with the proposed business combination and after giving effect to a proposed transaction financing contemplated to be raised by both of the parties with target proceeds of $75 million.
The Boards of Directors of World View and Leo each unanimously approved the transaction. The transaction will require the approval of the stockholders of World View and the shareholders of Leo and is subject to other customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023.
World View Investment Highlights
- Established, post-revenue company with strong national security, research and commercial strategic partnerships and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in place
- Near-term revenue visibility across several diverse verticals
- Demonstrated technology delivers value to large and growing addressable markets
- Patent-protected technologies and processes, providing attractive barriers to entry
- Earth-first corporate ethos, including prioritizing stratospheric flight to better understand and protect our planetโs fragile ecosystem
- Experienced, world-class team of visionaries with deep execution experience and expertise around stratospheric flight and remote sensing services
โTodayโs announcement represents a major milestone in World Viewโs business model,โ said Ryan M. Hartman, World View president and CEO. โWe exist to inspire, create and explore new perspectives for a radically improved future. This merger with Leo allows us to scale our demonstrated expertise and strong foundation of strategic partnerships to meet the growing market demand for data and analytics from the stratosphere.โ
The global remote sensing market is expected to grow toย $23 billion by the end of 2027 at a 9.8% CAGR (Hexa Research, 2019). World View believes this growth will come from a variety of verticals, including defense and national security, energy and power, agriculture, weather monitoring and other commercial industries.
โWorld View is already a leader in the burgeoning stratospheric economy, with notable mission successes across several key strategic partners and critical patent-protected technologies,โ said Lyndon Lea, president and CEO of Leo.
โCombining World Viewโs proven business model and mission-driven vision for the future with the institutional knowledge of the Leo team, we are excited and confident in World Viewโs ability to scale its global reach across its commercial and government offerings.โ
Filling a Critical Gap in Remote Sensing
World Viewโs unique approach to remote sensing via stratospheric balloons offers significant advantages not available via the traditional imaging sources of satellites and fixed-wing aircraft. World View offers its customers superior imaging resolution by flying five times closer to Earth than traditional satellites.
Additionally, through its proprietary altitude-control technology, World View provides up to 45 days of continuous flight, while delivering persistent, small-radius station keeping over a specific area of interest for several weeks at a time.
World Viewโs configurable stratospheric remote sensing systems allow governments, organizations and commercial entities to gather data and analytics to meet a variety of mission criteria.
Versatility of payloads allows systems to collect data from multiple sensors at once, including electro-optical, short- and mid-wave infrared, radar, hyperspectral, thermal and more.
The data collected from a stratospheric remote sensing flight informs actions across a wide and rapidly expanding range of use cases, including:
- Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR)
- Asset monitoring
- Supply-chain tracking
- Pipeline and utility line inspection
- Methane detection
- Non-invasive energy exploration
- Wildfire and storm tracking
- Climate change research
- Agricultural monitoring
- Maritime monitoring
- Communications