Quote from: meekGee on 07/09/2019 10:21 pmIf they are so close to real flights, why the hurry? Wouldn't they get a much better valuation after passenger flight #1?'Because they're still not anywhere close to generating significant revenue and they need another massive cash infusion to get there?QuoteHaving reached these milestones, the Board of VG believes that the additional capital provided by the merger with SCH will provide the company with the support needed to reach commercialization.
If they are so close to real flights, why the hurry? Wouldn't they get a much better valuation after passenger flight #1?
Having reached these milestones, the Board of VG believes that the additional capital provided by the merger with SCH will provide the company with the support needed to reach commercialization.
The company now expects to begin commercial service in the first or second quarter of 2020, performing 16 flights by the end of 2020 carrying 66 customers and producing $31 million in revenue from those customers and other sources.
In 2023, the company projects carrying out 270 flights carrying 1,565 customers, with five vehicles in service. That would produce $590 million in revenue. While the company expects a $104 million loss in 2020, it breaks even in 2021 and reaches $274 million in earnings on 2023.
Quote from: Kabloona on 07/09/2019 10:33 pmQuote from: meekGee on 07/09/2019 10:21 pmIf they are so close to real flights, why the hurry? Wouldn't they get a much better valuation after passenger flight #1?'Because they're still not anywhere close to generating significant revenue and they need another massive cash infusion to get there?QuoteHaving reached these milestones, the Board of VG believes that the additional capital provided by the merger with SCH will provide the company with the support needed to reach commercialization.They were saying that this current ship is practically ready.. Branson is itching to go, etc...Why not make a flight, prove themselves, and THEN go public?
British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plans a stock market listing by the end of the year, becoming the first space tourism firm to tap public markets for funding.
Why not make a flight, prove themselves, and THEN go public?The only answer I can see is that indeed they are not as close to flight as they hinted.
Quote from: meekGee on 07/10/2019 12:30 amQuote from: Kabloona on 07/09/2019 10:33 pmQuote from: meekGee on 07/09/2019 10:21 pmIf they are so close to real flights, why the hurry? Wouldn't they get a much better valuation after passenger flight #1?'Because they're still not anywhere close to generating significant revenue and they need another massive cash infusion to get there?QuoteHaving reached these milestones, the Board of VG believes that the additional capital provided by the merger with SCH will provide the company with the support needed to reach commercialization.They were saying that this current ship is practically ready.. Branson is itching to go, etc...Why not make a flight, prove themselves, and THEN go public?The timeline for the IPO seems to be by the end of the year....QuoteBritish billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plans a stock market listing by the end of the year, becoming the first space tourism firm to tap public markets for funding.https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-richard-bransons-virgin-galactic-103807857.html
The SEC filings say 270 flights by 2023.
“Since we put two spaceships into space ... and made five new astronauts—the first astronauts to have been made on American soil since 2009—we’ve had 2,500 people ask to sign up,” Branson told CNBC. “The market is enormous.”
What happened to the big investment by Aabar?
The deal is a rare example of a major exit for an entrepreneurial space company. While there have been a number of smaller deals involving the merger and acquisition of space startups, there have been few large deals, like Google’s acquisition of Skybox Imaging, renamed Terra Bella, in 2014 for an estimated $500 million.However, a panel of investors at the Space Frontier Foundation’s NewSpace 2019 conference here July 17 were doubtful the deal was a harbinger of either other large deals involving space startups, or the use of special purpose acquisition companies — which raise money on the public markets for the sole intent of acquiring another company — as an alternative to a more conventional initial public offering (IPO) of stock.“From a financing perspective, you raise money when you can, how you can,” said Sunil Nagaraj, managing partner and founder of Ubiquity Ventures. “I think it’s great that they’ll have an injection of capital.”However, the use of what he called a “reverse IPO” approach was not compelling to him. In addition, he called out the role played by the founder of SCH, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, who is investing $100 million of his money into Virgin Galactic and will serve as chairman of the company.“The Chamath piece makes it completely one-off,” Nagaraj concluded, calling Palihapitiya a “failed venture capitalist” when his VC firm, Social Capital, decided to stop accepting outside capital, followed by the departures of most of its staff.“I don’t view Chamath’s involvement or the reverse IPO structure as one that is particularly attractive to a lot of startups,” he said. “I don’t predict it will be repeated through his organization or through others very often.”
Interesting commentary on the latest deal.https://spacenews.com/investors-dont-see-virgin-galactic-deal-as-model-for-space-industry/QuoteThe deal is a rare example of a major exit for an entrepreneurial space company. While there have been a number of smaller deals involving the merger and acquisition of space startups, there have been few large deals, like Google’s acquisition of Skybox Imaging, renamed Terra Bella, in 2014 for an estimated $500 million.However, a panel of investors at the Space Frontier Foundation’s NewSpace 2019 conference here July 17 were doubtful the deal was a harbinger of either other large deals involving space startups, or the use of special purpose acquisition companies — which raise money on the public markets for the sole intent of acquiring another company — as an alternative to a more conventional initial public offering (IPO) of stock.“From a financing perspective, you raise money when you can, how you can,” said Sunil Nagaraj, managing partner and founder of Ubiquity Ventures. “I think it’s great that they’ll have an injection of capital.”However, the use of what he called a “reverse IPO” approach was not compelling to him. In addition, he called out the role played by the founder of SCH, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, who is investing $100 million of his money into Virgin Galactic and will serve as chairman of the company.“The Chamath piece makes it completely one-off,” Nagaraj concluded, calling Palihapitiya a “failed venture capitalist” when his VC firm, Social Capital, decided to stop accepting outside capital, followed by the departures of most of its staff.“I don’t view Chamath’s involvement or the reverse IPO structure as one that is particularly attractive to a lot of startups,” he said. “I don’t predict it will be repeated through his organization or through others very often.”In other words, Branson et. al. were lucky to find a whale like Chamath to bail them out, to put it bluntly.
I see the deal as a post buy up cash infusion of his new start up VirginTrains USA which is buying up rail start-ups and other companies as part of his pursuit of building an Advanced High Speed-to-Extreme High Speed pan American rail network in the countries he's granted a right to build. He recently stated that fixing the American passenger rail system is his top priority right now ranking it above some of his other companies.
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 07/19/2019 05:36 pmI see the deal as a post buy up cash infusion of his new start up VirginTrains USA which is buying up rail start-ups and other companies as part of his pursuit of building an Advanced High Speed-to-Extreme High Speed pan American rail network in the countries he's granted a right to build. He recently stated that fixing the American passenger rail system is his top priority right now ranking it above some of his other companies.Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't even heard of VirginTrains USA. More power to him if he can improve the state of rail transit here in the States, which is generally pretty awful.
A Closer Look at the Virgin Galactic-Social Capital Merger Deal September 8, 2019
Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plots move into 'flying cars'[...]Shareholder documents filed ahead of the company’s upcoming reverse listing, in which it will float shares on Wall Street via a merger with a Silicon Valley investment vehicle, reveal that the company is exploring “urban air mobility” as one potential use of its technology.
Boeing taking $20 million stake in Virgin Galactic, with a vision of commercial hypersonic travelPUBLISHED MOMENTS AGOMichael SheetzKEY POINTSBoeing’s venture arm HorizonX will take a $20 million minority stake in Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic once it goes public later this year.Virgin Galactic is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange, through a merger announced in July with Social Capital Hedosophia.The space tourism company is in “the final stretch” of testing, CEO George Whitesides told CNBC, adding that the company “still feels good about going into operation next year.”
"$20 million is a drop in the bucket for the $1 billion that they've raised," Boeing's Brian Schettler says"It's really to catalyze a bigger partnership and align the companies to explore the future of high speed mobility and commercial access to space." cnb.cx/2nroGXY
OCTOBER 8, 2019Boeing To Invest In Human Spaceflight Pioneer Virgin Galactic– Boeing and Virgin Galactic enter strategic partnership to transform commercial space travel and mobility– Latest investment by Boeing HorizonX Ventures organizationBoeing will invest $20 million in Virgin Galactic, a vertically integrated human spaceflight company. The companies will work together to broaden commercial space access and transform global travel technologies.“Boeing’s strategic investment facilitates our effort to drive the commercialization of space and broaden consumer access to safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible new forms of transportation,” said Brian Schettler, senior managing director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures. “Our work with Virgin Galactic and others will help unlock the future of space travel and high-speed mobility.”To date, Virgin Galactic has invested more than $1 billion of capital to build reusable, human spaceflight systems designed to enable significantly more people to experience and utilize space. In July, the company announced its intent to become a publicly-listed entity via a business combination with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. The Boeing investment will be in return for new shares in Virgin Galactic and is therefore contingent on the closing of that transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, and any such investment will be in the post-business combination company.This investment brings together two companies with extensive experience in the space industry. Virgin Galactic is a pioneer of commercial human space flight and is the first and only company to have put humans into space in a vehicle built for commercial service, having built and flown a Mach 3 passenger vehicle. Through its manufacturing and development capabilities, Virgin Galactic can design, build, test, and operate a fleet of advanced aerospace vehicles. Boeing has unparalleled experience transporting people to orbit and building and operating large structures in that challenging environment. A part of every U.S. manned space program, Boeing serves as NASA’s prime private contractor for the International Space Station (“ISS”) and is preparing the new, reusable Starliner space capsule for launch to the ISS.“This is the beginning of an important collaboration for the future of air and space travel, which are the natural next steps for our human spaceflight programme,” said Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic. “Virgin Galactic and Boeing share a vision of opening access to the world and space, to more people in safe and environmentally responsible ways.”“The unique expertise of our companies stretches from points all around the world to the deepest reaches of space,” said Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO Leanne Caret. “Together we will change how people travel on Earth, and among the stars, for generations to come.”George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, noted, “We are excited to partner with Boeing to develop something that can truly change how people move around the planet and connect with one another. As a Virgin company, our focus will be on a safe and unparalleled customer experience, with environmental responsibility to the fore.”Additional information on specific projects to be pursued will be shared in the future.###
Scoop! @virgingalactic is set to debut on the @NYSE under the ticker $SPCE on Monday.This will make Virgin Galactic the first human spaceflight company to trade publicly.
Shareholders on Wednesday approved the merger of @chamath's Social Capital Hedosophia with Virgin Galactic and it's expected to close tomorrow.
Branson had hinted to me last week that Virgin Galactic's public debut was coming soon, saying "it's not long now" during the company's spacewear event with Under Armour. cnbc.com/2019/10/24/vir…
