Telesat, a Canadian satellite service company, will be publicly listed on Nasdaq by combining with Loral Space and Communications.
The company announced the agreement yesterday with Loral Space and Communications and Public Sector Pension (PSP) Investment Board. Telesat Canada and Loral will become subsidiaries of Telesat Corporation, a new publicly traded Canadian incorporated and controlled company.
The public market investors and Loral stockholders will own Telesat directly. Loral owns 62.7 per cent of Telesat, with the rest belonging to PSP.
In an investor’s call, Telesat said that the company will still be considered Canadian for purposes of the Canadian government support. It also outlined a new structure for its board of directors, including “a requirement that a majority of the board of the company will be Canadians, and that new telephone equity is divided into different classes with special voting rules so that Canadian holders have a majority of the voting power.”
Earlier this month, the Canadian government and Telesat entered into a formal CA$600 million agreement to provide internet service to rural and remote areas of Canada. Through the deal, Telesat will sell capacity at a reduced cost to local internet providers. Services are expected to begin in 2022 at priority locations, followed by the rest of Canada in the following year.
Lynette Simmons, Telesat director of marketing, said in an email statement that the listing will not affect the company’s agreement with the government. The Canadian government signed a 10-year capacity agreement for Telesat LEO services.
The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2021. Telesat is also looking to list on the Canadian stock exchange.