MAXAR sold off MDA

[Zed_Noir]

Looks like MAXAR sold off MDA for debt relief.

Space News article

SANTA FE, N.M. — Maxar Technologies announced Dec. 30 it would sell its Canadian subsidiary to private equity firms, turning it into a standalone company while providing Maxar with much-needed debt relief.

Maxar said that a consortium of firms led by Northern Private Capital, a Toronto-based private investment firm, agreed to purchase MDA, Maxar’s Canadian business unit, for $1 billion Canadian ($765 million). The deal is pending regulatory reviews in both the United States and Canada.

One of the comments in the article say it is basically loading up debt for no gain.

Let me get this right. MDA bought SSL and moved HQ to US. A few short years later, SSL (now called Maxar) sells MDA back to Canada, leaving MDA in Canada and SSL in the US in pretty much the same configuration as they started. Plus, of course, $3 Billion in debt and a lot less market share in a truncated geostationary satellite market. <snip>

[Comga]

Well it’s no gain to the original MDA and SSL, but the debt itself is someone else’s gain.
Squeezing a half percentage margin in servicing costs above the current low borrowing rate on $3B is $15M a year.
A couple of these deals and you can upgrade to a bigger private island.
We’re you measuring value in satellites and services?
That’s so twentieth century.

[zubenelgenubi]

In terms of the satellite business, the succession is?
Ford Aerospace > Space Systems Loral > MAXAR > MAXAR's USA operations, inlcluding MAXAR-1300?
                       (separate lineage) MDA >           > 2nd incarnation of MDA?

[russianhalo117]

In terms of the satellite business, the succession is?
Ford Aerospace > Space Systems Loral > MAXAR > MAXAR's USA operations, inlcluding MAXAR-1300?
                       (separate lineage) MDA >           > 2nd incarnation of MDA?

Canadian government blocked dissolution of MDA into MAXAR relocation to the US HQ, during the consolidation and rebranding process, requiring MDA maintain its Canadian HQ and full autonomy and also blocked MDA's renaming which led to the decision to spin off MDA. It however makes MAXAR a swift US acquisition candidate based on the restructuring of the company before and after the announcement with the marketing intent to court offers.

MAXARS conference calls and IR speaks indirectly of this.

[gongora]

Y'all seem to be forgetting that MDA and SSL weren't the only parts of Maxar.  The DigitalGlobe acquisition was over $3B.