The Kleos Space (ASX: KSS) share price has fallen 6.40% at the time of writing to 80 cents after a trading halt of the company's securities was lifted. The company announced a capital raising today, which will consist of a placement to institutional and sophisticated investors.
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The Kleos Space placement
Kleos raised approximately $19 million from institutional and sophisticated investors at a price of 72 cents per share. This was a discount of 16.3% to the previous closing price of 86 cents per share.
According to the company, the proceeds of the placement will be used for:
- funding the company beyond the launch of its second cluster of satellites to end 2021
- accelerating development of the company's third cluster of satellites
- sales and marketing
- working capital
- funding the costs of the placement
The placement will be conducted in 2 tranches with the first $7.2 million issued in accordance with the ASX listing rules and shareholder approval at a general meeting required for the remaining $11.8 million.
What else has Kleos been up to?
According to Kleos, the company successfully launched its first cluster of 4 satellites on 7 November 2020. The satellites will provide radio frequency data for its customers, allowing them to monitor activity in a number of maritime locations.
The Kleos satellites will detect maritime activity that, according to the company, is otherwise undetectable and includes uses such as defence and national security along with the intercept of criminal activity.
The company expects that the satellites will provide revenue from the first quarter of FY2021, with agreements already in place with the US Airforce, L3Harris Technologies Inc (NYSE: LHX) and multiple government entities. The annual licensing fees for the first cluster of satellites will be between $128,000 and $971,000 per license and the number of initial licenses targeted is around 130. Kleos expects growth in its subscriber base over time.
Kleos plans to launch its second cluster of satellites on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid 2021, which it expects will provide an opportunity to generate further revenue.
About the Kleos share price
Kleos shares are up 433% from their 52-week low of 15 cent and up 158.06% since the beginning of the year. The Kleos share price is up 128% since this time last year.
