Virgin Galactic set to go public on NYSE Monday
To be the first space tourism company on the stock exchange
Virgin Galactic is about to become the first spacetourism company to list on the New York Stock Exchange, expected as soon as Monday, multiple news sources including CNBC, Spacenews.com and The Verge reported this week.
Company shareholders — with some 95% of the 61.35 million votes cast — approved its merger with Chamath Palihapitiya venture Social Capital Hedosophia on Wednesday, according to SEC filings.
That sets up the company to list directly on the exchange Monday under the ticker symbol SPCE, according to CNBC.
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson told a conference in Israel earlier this week that he planned to be at the exchange Monday to ring the opening bell.
The planned merger was announced in July, with Chamath Palihapitiya taking a 49% stake in Virgin. The merger gives the combined company a valuation of $1.5 billion, with Branson retaining a 51% controlling stake.
It also is expected to provide Virgin Galactic with several hundred million dollars in capital.
The deal also cleared the way for Boeing to make a $20 million investment in Virgin Galactic announced Oct. 8. The companies said then that they planned to work together “to broaden commercial space access and transform global travel technologies,” but offered few specifics.
Virgin Galactic is moving operations and personnel from Mojave to Spaceport America in Upham, New Mexico, in anticipation of starting operations next year.
It is still testing its first operational SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity.
In a presentation at the 70th International Astronautical Congress on Wednesday, Clare Pelly, head of the astronaut office at Virgin Galactic, said Branson will be on the first commercial flight, something he has long said he would do. The company’s investor presentation suggested a start of commercial flights in June 2020.
While it may be the first to be publicly listed, Virgin Galactic has space-tourism competitors in Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk.
Large aerospace companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have long traded on exchanges, but space remains only a small part of their overall business.