Maxar is private. Who becomes the favorite now?

5/3/2023 - Written By Chris Quilty

Maxar completed its merger with Advent International on May 3, delisting the most prominent pure-play space stock of the past five years. With two-thirds of its revenue coming from Earth observation and one-third from building space hardware, Maxar was a bellwether for both the optical imaging sector and the otherwise opaque satellite manufacturing industry. And, informally, Quilty Space received more calls from current or prospective investors in Maxar than we did any other company. The question now is, who becomes the next investor darling for the space industry?

While the number of public space stocks has surged, the answer to this question remains unclear. Maxar's U.S. imagery peers BlackSky and Planet, have fought hard to brand themselves as high-growth SaaS plays, whereas Maxar was a deep-value turnaround story. That all three do Earth observation is a coincidence. And on satellite manufacturing, Maxar was a giant in the mature but troubled GEO communications satellite industry. Recently public peers Rocket Lab and Terran Orbital have made strong inroads into the defense satellite and commercial constellation arenas, both of which were areas Maxar has sought to grow into. Quilty Space will be watching to see who fills Maxar's void.

SOURCE: https://www.maxar.com/press-releases/u-s-private-equity-firm-advent-international-and-bci-complete-acquisition-of-maxar-technologies