Iridium's advanced portfolio of easily
integrated assured PNT solutions will protect global industries and
digital critical infrastructure
MCLEAN,
Va., March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium
Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM), a leading provider of
global voice and data satellite communications, today announced
that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Satelles, Inc.,
the leader in highly secure satellite-based time and location
services that complement and protect GPS and other GNSS-reliant
systems. The service, named Satellite Time and Location (STL), is
an easy-to-adopt, highly secure solution that increases the
efficiency and reliability of timing systems for digital
infrastructure like 5G base stations, data centers, and other
critical infrastructure and protects against GNSS vulnerabilities
using low-cost hardware that doesn't require outdoor antennas. This
acquisition continues Iridium's philosophy of investing in
differentiating technologies uniquely suited to its network that
significantly outperform competing solutions.
The market for assured Positioning Navigation and Timing (PNT)
services, estimated to reach $3.5
billion in 2032, is evolving to require integrated
small-form-factor devices instead of the server rack-size solutions
connected to outdoor GPS antennas that are available
today. Time synchronization and location data play an
important role in the global economy, particularly in the
commercial sector for major industries supported by critical
infrastructure, such as financial services, telecommunications,
cyber security, and transportation. These industries and others
rely on an estimated 10,000 data centers globally and their
hundreds of millions of data processing and storage servers. Each
of these servers requires time synchronization and can benefit from
the in-server room efficiency and resilience delivered by Iridium
STL.
Iridium will now work to reduce the size and cost barriers to
adoption, enabling deployment of a more accessible solution for
integration with autonomous systems, consumer devices, vehicles and
traditional markets like aviation, maritime and land mobile. It
also provides an opportunity for Iridium's existing partner
eco-system to add to their portfolio of solutions and harden their
GNSS-reliant products and infrastructure.
"This market is growing; it's a perfect application of our
network, and this solution solves a problem for critical industries
better than anything else," said Iridium CEO, Matt Desch. "Acquiring Satelles makes
perfect sense for Iridium and is consistent with what our strategy
has always been, which is to take advantage of our unique network
to do what others can't or do it better than anyone else can.
STL is the superior solution available today, and we have been
following and investing in Satelles's technology roadmap to allow
us to create even more opportunity. We're excited to formally bring
the Satelles team "in-house," to the Iridium family."
The STL service utilizes the stronger broadcast paging channels
of the Iridium® satellite constellation to deliver
precise timing information, which provides truly global, secure
time and location signals that are 1,000 times more powerful than
GNSS constellations. The service is resilient to regional GNSS
outages, works inside buildings and is being used today to secure
digital infrastructure for financial markets, governments, and
major corporations.
STL will become a new business line of Iridium, led by Satelles
CEO, Dr. Michael O'Connor who will
report to Iridium CEO, Matt
Desch. "Bringing STL into the Iridium family is going
to be a supercharger for this capability that will benefit our
customers and our society. I look forward to a bright future
together," said O'Connor.
Iridium is assuming all rights to the Satelles patent portfolio
and anticipates the Iridium STL line of business will generate over
$100 million in service revenue per
year, by 2030, and additional revenue from equipment and
engineering.
A long-standing investor in Satelles, Iridium had an ownership
stake of around 20 percent from three previous investments in the
company. For the remaining approximately 80 percent, Iridium will
pay about $115 million, net of cash
remaining in the Company, which will be financed through a
tack-on to its term loan. Iridium expects to complete the
acquisition in the next few weeks. As previously announced,
Iridium will be speaking at today's Raymond James Annual
Institutional Investors Conference at 4:00
p.m. ET, where additional details regarding this transaction
will be shared. The presentation from the conference can be
viewed via webcast through the events page of Iridium's Investor
Relations website. Commentary will also be included during our
first quarter 2024 earnings call in April. This transaction
is the first acquisition of another company in Iridium's
history.
To learn more about Iridium, visit: www.iridium.com
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium® is the only mobile voice and data satellite
communications network that spans the entire globe.
Iridium enables connections between people, organizations, and assets to and from anywhere, in real time.
Together with its ecosystem of partner
companies,
Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions
for markets that require truly global communications. In 2019, the company completed
a generational upgrade of its satellite network and launched
its specialty broadband service,
Iridium Certus®. Iridium
Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common
stock trades on the Nasdaq
Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM.
For more information about Iridium
products, services, and partner solutions, visit
www.iridium.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely
historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the closing
of the acquisition and the capabilities and potential revenue
contribution of the Satellite Time and Location service.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words
"anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects,"
"intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are
predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from
any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties
regarding closing the acquisition of Satelles, the development of
and market for Satelles's products and services and Iridium's
ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its
satellite constellation, as well as general industry and economic
conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological
factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements
include those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" in
the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 15,
2024, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC
from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's
expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions
prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those
expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking
statements are based on information available to it as of the date
of this press release and speak only as of the date of this press
release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements.
Press
Contact:
Jordan
Hassin
Iridium Communications
Inc. Jordan.Hassin@Iridium.com
+1 (703) 287-7421
X: @Iridiumcomm
|
Investor
Contact:
Kenneth Levy
Iridium Communications
Inc.
Ken.Levy@Iridium.com
+1 (703)
287-7570
|
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SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.