Iridium Communications

Satellite Communications · Aerospace · M&A

Acquisition

Rocket Lab fully funds $8B Iridium deal as FCC clears filing

The company canceled its bridge loan the same day it closed the raise, signaling it never needed the backstop it paid to keep on standby.

• Rocket Lab completed a $1.944 billion at-the-market share sale, fully financing its roughly $8 billion acquisition of satellite operator Iridium Communications, days after the FCC accepted the companies' license-transfer filing.
• Iridium operates a global satellite network serving aviation, maritime and government customers, reporting more than 2.55 million active subscribers when the deal was announced in June.
• The deal pays Iridium shareholders $54 per share — $27 in cash plus 0.24 to 0.4 Rocket Lab shares under an exchange-ratio collar — leaving former Iridium holders with about 5% of the combined company.
• Rocket Lab issued 29.3 million new shares to raise the equity and terminated the $3.6 billion bridge facility it had arranged with Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo, while Iridium's lenders agreed to let its $1.775 billion term loan remain outstanding after the change of control.
• Iridium shareholders vote on the merger September 24, and the FCC's public comment period runs through November 9, with closing still targeted for mid-2027.
• Rocket Lab shares rose roughly 3-4% on the financing news while satellite-communications rival AST SpaceMobile slipped, a sign investors read the completed funding as reducing deal risk rather than adding dilution.
• With financing risk removed, the deal's main remaining uncertainty is a nine-month regulatory review; CEO Peter Beck has framed the tie-up as a bet on satellite infrastructure and government contracts rather than a direct challenge to Starlink's consumer broadband business.