Spire Global Strikes $161M Cash-and-Stock Deal for exactEarth; Peter Platzer Quoted

Spire Global (NYSE: SPIR) has agreed to acquire exactEarth in a cash-and-stock transaction worth approximately $161.2 million to further expand its geographic footprint and increase its space-based maritime dataset.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of Spire and exactEarth and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of calendar year 2021 or first quarter of 2022, subject to approvals by exactEarth shareholders and regulators and other customary closing conditions, the companies said in a joint release published Tuesday.

Spire is a space-based data, analytics and space services provider that recently went public following its merger with NavSight Holdings.

Canada-based exactEarth has been providing Satellite-Automatic Identification System services to the maritime industry since 2009.

Peter Mabson, CEO of exactEarth, will directly report to Spire CEO Peter Platzer as he continues to lead exactEarth, which will become a fully owned subsidiary of Spire and continue to operate through its office in Cambridge, Ontario.

“Peter and I share a vision about the opportunity for space-based maritime data and the digitalization of the global maritime industry, and I look forward to pursuing that vision together,” said Platzer.

Spire said the acquisition will increase its client base by over 75 percent with the addition of more than 150 government and commercial clients across 39 countries and allow it to own a minority indirect stake in internet of things provider Myriota.

Shareholders of exactEarth will own about 3.8 percent of Spire upon the deal’s closing. Holders of exactEarth’s common shares will get $1.97 in cash and 0.1 share of Spire’s Class A common stock for each common share they own under the transaction.

RBC Capital Markets serves as financial adviser, while Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati act as legal advisers to Spire. Stikeman Elliott and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison advise exactEarth on the deal’s legal aspect, while Cormark Securities serves as financial adviser.