Rocket LV0006 tilts during liftoff.
Astra/NASA Spaceflight
space company Astra The company is set to take its founder private in a price-cutting deal after the publicly traded shares underperformed.
Astra co-founders Chris Kemp and Adam London (chief executive and chief technology officer, respectively) signed an agreement with the company’s board of directors to acquire all outstanding common shares for 50 cents per share. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.
A special committee of the board of directors voted in favor of the privatization plan with Kemp and London abstaining from the vote. After the founders last month cut their offer to 50 cents a share from $1.50, a board committee stressed it believed the deal was the “only option” to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Astra’s shares, which were trading at 85 cents a share at the time of the announcement, closed at 58 cents a share on Thursday.
The company’s market value is approximately US$13 million At current levels, that’s a fraction of the $2.6 billion equity valuation the company had when it went public through a SPAC three years ago.
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The San Francisco-area company was founded in 2016 with the goal of mass-producing small rockets and launching them every day.
Since its stock debut, Astra’s rockets have reached orbit twice, but the company has also suffered three launch failures.
Astra spacecraft engine under test.
Astra
Its rocket launch operations have been disrupted since the mission failed in June 2022. Despite acquiring the spacecraft propulsion business, the company has been unable to generate meaningful quarterly revenue and has cut staff last year in an effort to survive.
Since announcing its listing, the company has suffered a net loss of more than $750 million.
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