TAMPA, Fla. — Canada’s MDA Space announced plans April 1 to buy Israeli satellite chipmaker SatixFy in a $269 million deal to further vertically integrate its constellation manufacturing capabilities.
Mike Greenley, MDA’s CEO, said SatixFy would strengthen the company’s supply chain as it works to ramp up to producing two satellites a day with software-defined payloads that can be reprogrammed in orbit.
SatixFy, already a major supplier of chips to MDA after selling its U.K.-based satellite payload systems and subsystems to the Canadian company in 2023, would also support the development of next-generation satellites.
MDA said SatixFy has invested around $270 million in research and development since it was founded in 2012, holding more than 60 patents issued and pending with a team of around 165 specialized technical staff. In addition to satellites, SatixFy’s technology is also used in gateways, multi-beam digital antennas, user terminals and modems.
The deal
MDA would pay $2.10 per SatixFy share under the deal, approved by the board of directors of both companies, representing around $193 million in total and a 75% premium to the stock’s price on March 31.
SatixFy went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2022 by merging with a publicly listed shell company amid waning hype surrounding space industry SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies.
After spiking shortly after listing at $10, the shares later languished following missed revenue targets and supply chain woes.
MDA also plans to pay off all of SatixFy’s $76 million debt, bringing the total cash consideration for the deal to around $269 million.
SatixFy has a 45-day “go-shop” clause under the transaction agreement that enables the company to seek out better offers until May 16.
The transaction also requires regulatory approvals, which the companies expect to clear in time to close the acquisition in the third quarter of 2025.
MDA’s constellation push
MDA has a long history of supplying antennas and other satellite components as a subcontractor for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellations, in addition to providing space robotics and the Radarsat imaging spacecraft it operates from geostationary orbit.
The Canadian company pivoted to building NGSO satellites as a prime contractor about five years ago to chase growing demand from constellation operators worldwide.
The first order for MDA’s software-defined Aurora platform came in 2022 from Canada’s Telesat, which aims to begin deploying nearly 200 NGSO broadband satellites next year.
In February, MDA announced it is also building more than 50 satellites based on Aurora for Globalstar’s Apple-backed connectivity constellation.
