Orbcomm Expects To Ride SkyWave Acquisition to Global Growth

摘要

Satellite machine-to-machine messaging service provider Orbcomm on Nov. 10 said its purchase of SkyWave Mobile Communications Inc. of Canada will transform Orbcomm from multiregional to global and push its growing subscriber base past the 1.2 million mark. The all-cash transaction, which appears to tighten Orbcomm's relations with mobile satellite services operator Inmarsat of London, is valued at $130 million and is expected to close in January following regulatory approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Orbcomm said. Orbcomm also said it was targeting a launch of the 11 final second-generation satellites by mid-2015 aboard a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Falcon 9 rocket following the successful in-orbit testing of the first six satellites, which Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX launched in July.