MDA Space acquires Israeli satellite company SatixFy

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MDA Space will buy all outstanding shares of Satixfy in an all-cash transaction for US$2.10 per share, which represents an equity value of about $278 million. The valuation is a 75 per cent premium to SatixFy’s closing price on March 31 and a 52 per cent premium to its 30-day volume-weighted average price as of March 31.

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The company said demand for next-generation digital satellite communications and direct-to-device connectivity is rapidly expanding.

“With this acquisition, MDA Space is taking a logical next step to further reinforce our technical differentiation as the global market transitions from analogue to digital satellite technology,” MDA Space chief executive Mike Greenley said in a press release.

SatixFy, which uses in-house-designed chipsets, enables satellite broadband and direct-to-device constellations to significantly improve satellite performance and decrease cost.

Greenley said bringing the two teams together adds complementary expertise and technology that will allow MDA Space to provide vertically integrated and differentiated digital satellite solutions.

Once closed, the transaction will bring more than 60 patents issued and pending to MDA Space, as well as approximately 165 employees globally.

In addition to chips to support satellite payload solutions and satellite communications, the SatixFy portfolio includes gateways, multi-beam digital antennas, user terminals and modems.

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Nir Barkan, chief executive of SatixFy, said in the same release that joining MDA Space marks a significant milestone in its journey to revolutionize the market with digital chip-based solutions.

MDA Space said the acquisition will also enhance its capabilities in the digital satellite communications market by adding complementary technology and a rich IP portfolio, combining MDA Space’s technological capabilities in digital low and medium Earth orbit satellites with SatixFy’s space-grade chips and communications systems.

In a note to clients, BMO Capital Markets analyst Thanos Moschopoulos said the transaction with Satixfy, a critical supplier for MDA’s Aurora digital LEO satellites, should be accretive in later years and makes “significant strategic sense.”

MDA had previously acquired SatixFy’s digital payload division in October 2023 for US$40 million. Its acquisition of the rest of the business is unsurprising, wrote Moschopoulos, given that SatixFy’s IP is critical to some of its satellites.

As part of the deal, MDA Space intends to retire SatixFy’s existing debt of approximately $109 million immediately upon closing, representing a total cash consideration of approximately $387 million.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

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