Herndon satellite company BlackSky to go public

Herndon- and Seattle-based global monitoring company BlackSky announced Thursday it will go public following its acquisition by Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp., a transaction that values the combined company at $1.1 billion.

Under the transaction, the special purpose acquisition corporation will merge with the Herndon company. BlackSky’s shareholders will own 62% of common shares of the merged company. It will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BKSY. 

Founded in 2014, BlackSky provides satellite imaging services using machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision and natural language processing.

“This transaction fully funds our growth plans and accelerates our vision of providing our customers with a ‘first-to-know’ advantage,” BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole said in a statement. “This is an important inflection point for our industry as commercial and government users demand access to real time information about the changes that matter most to them.”

The transaction is expected to close in July. Other investors in the deal include Tiger Global Management, Mithril Capital, Hedosophia and Senator Investment Group.

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