Virgin Orbit Holdings is in talks with VC investor Matthew Brown to raise $200M in fresh funding through private placement.
The firm, established by Richard Branson, was facing a cash crunch
after the failure of its LauncherOne rocket in January, which was
carrying a payload consisting of nine small satellites.
- The
firm has since received a $35M capital injection from Branson's Virgin
Investments, which currently owns 75% of the company.
- Brown
will initially get preferred shares for his investment, which will
later convert into common shares at a volume-weighted average price.
- Virgin Orbit intends to use the proceeds to resume operations and recall a few employees.
- Last week, it laid off nearly all of its 750 employees and paused operations after it ran out of cash.
- The news of the capital injection drove up its share prices by 60% in premarket trading.
- The firm's market capitalization had dropped from $3B from its IPO debut via SPAC merger to $150M in recent months.
