Private equity giant EQT acquires SpaceX's satellite launch partner Exolaunch in Germany

Source: Global Market Report

European private equity giant EQT announced on Thursday that it will acquire Berlin-based aerospace company Exolaunch, which helps satellite companies send their satellites into orbit through cooperation with rocket operators such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

This deal highlights investors’ keen interest in the aerospace industry and also marks the first time the Stockholm-listed private equity fund has entered this field. EQT hopes to use this opportunity to expand Exolaunch’s global business and invest in the development of new satellite launch and deployment technologies.

Exolaunch was spun off from the Department of Space Technology at the Technical University of Berlin in 2013 and was founded by Associate Professor Dmitriy Sternharz.

This investment comes from EQT’s flagship private equity fund, whose investment size ranges from 300 million to 1.5 billion euros (348 million to 1.74 billion US dollars). According to a person familiar with the matter, the acquisition price of Exolaunch is at the lower end of the fund’s investment range. As the terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, the source requested anonymity.

Exolaunch has completed 47 launch missions for more than 200 commercial and government clients from North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, deploying more than 790 satellites.