Satixfy Cuts £47 Million Deal With MDA For UK Subsidiary

Israeli-based Satixfy announced plans to cement a deal with Canadian space hardware manufacturers MDA. The deal focuses on the Israelis’ UK subsidiary, Satixfy Space Systems. Costing approximately £47 million, MDA will acquire the British satellite payload system and subsystem development subsidiary, as well as establish an ongoing commercial agreement. 

Nir Barkan, Acting CEO of Satixfy, said in a statement: “today’s announcement… brings SatixFy’s cutting-edge space chipsets into MDA’s digital payloads, representing a strong step forward in the commercialization of our technology.” 

Satixfy noted they will retain all ASIC intellectual property as well as new chipsets in development. Additionally, the transaction is yet to be closed under customary conditions. This includes “regulatory, lender, and other third party and shareholder approvals,” which is expected to be finalised in Q4 2023. 

Selling Their UK-Based Subsidiary: Satixfy Space Systems

A significant portion of the deal will go towards the sale of the Israelis’ British subsidiary, Satixfy Space Systems. Under the transaction terms, MDA will obtain a US$40 million share price agreement and all holdings in the British subsidiary. The Israeli satcom company said the sale is a strategic move to focus their business practices on providing chipsets to satellite payload design companies. Nevertheless, the UK’s Satixfy Space Systems will continue to deliver their flagship technologies based around on-board processing and digital beamforming antennas.

The Deal’s Remaining US$20 Million

In addition to the US$40 million, US$20 million will go towards advanced payments under the new commercial agreement. This includes a previous US$10 million payment “to be applied to future orders of space grade chips” made in June this year. 

What Does Satixfy Develop?

Satixfy manufactures chipsets for next-generation satellite communication systems and provides pseudo-satellite services. This includes broadband access, Internet of Things, backhauling and mobility. However, their core developments revolve around developing chipsets for their: “Multi-Beam Antenna technology.” Notably, the company delivered the digital regenerative payload for OneWeb’s JoeySat and supported on OneWeb’s 5G satellite link.