SpaceX could go public by merging with EchoStar. It isn’t a crazy idea.
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Rather than pursue a conventional initial public offering, SpaceX could go public through a merger with wireless phone, TV and satellite company EchoStar. It’s an admittedly an unconventional and seemingly far-fetched idea, but SpaceX’s leader and controlling shareholder, Elon Musk, is a maverick who has succeeded by flouting conventional rules.
Here’s why such a transaction could make sense. The companies already have done business together. SpaceX bought spectrum from EchoStar that it can use for its Starlink satellite broadband service for cash and stock in two separate transactions in September and November for about $20 billion.
The package included $11 billion in SpaceX stock and that has turned EchoStar into the best publicly traded play on SpaceX. EchoStar stock has risen 50% since the first SpaceX transaction to nearly $103 and could have more upside since it now reflects what appears to be low valuation for SpaceX relative to what it may command as a public company. The deals were struck at an estimated SpaceX valuation of $400 billion—half of what it could command as a public company.
EchoStar’s market value is now about $30 billion. EchoStar now owns an estimated 2%-plus of SpaceX equity and that stake represents about half the value in the company. Neither company responded to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported recently that SpaceX has started a selection process for hiring investment bankers for a potential 2026 IPO. The alternative, a merger with EchoStar, probably would allow SpaceX to go public more quickly than through a traditional IPO. It would permit SpaceX to make greater use of financial projections in wooing investors than an IPO.
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