Space-based vessel data company Spire Global has announced a US$161.2 million deal to acquire satellite AIS data provider exactEarth, a move which will bring together the firms’ real-time and historical space-based maritime datasets and increases Spire’s customer base by over 75%.
Once completed, the acquisition will see exactEarth become a fully owned subsidiary of Spire and continue to operate from Ontario, Canada, under the leadership of exactEarth’s CEO Peter Mabson, reporting directly to Spire CEO Peter Platzer.
“Peter and I share a vision about the opportunity for space-based maritime data and the digitalisation of the global maritime industry, and I look forward to pursuing that vision together,” said Peter Platzer, Spire’s CEO.
“I have great respect for the highly experienced team at exactEarth and am excited to continue driving this digital transformation together, serving more customers with a more robust data and solutions platform.”
The deal also sees Spire take a minority indirect ownership stake in IoT firm Myriota, a provider of low-power, direct-to-orbit satellite connectivity for Internet of Things applications.
The total transaction consideration of CAD$204.2m (US$161.2m) is comprised of approximately CAD$130.9 million (US$103.4 million) in cash and CAD$73.2 million (US$57.8 million) in Spire stock.
The completion of the deal is subject to approval by at least two-thirds of the votes cast at a special meeting of exactEarth shareholders which is expected to take place in November 2021, and is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
The companies say that they expect the acquisition to close in Q4 this year or in early 2022.
