Lynk Global turned to special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Slam in an effort to secure future financial success, inking a merger that aims to see it become a public company on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the second half of 2024.

Slam was founded in 2020 by former major league baseball player Alex Rodriguez, who is now listed as its chairman and CEO.

Slam aims to pursue investment opportunities with companies that have “large and growing addressable markets, significant revenue growth, defensible business models and superior market share.”

The combined company is expected to be valued at no less than $800 million upon the closing of the transaction.

If the merger does go through, it will give Lynk a financial lift for its satellite-to-phone service that has started operations in four countries after several delays.

Lynk Global CEO Charles Miller stated becoming a public company would give it “access to greater capital” to bring its services to more people.

Reaction
Analysts took a mixed view on the deal.

Recon Analytics founder and lead analyst Roger Entner told Mobile World Live (MWL) he wasn’t sure if the merger solved Lynk Global’s funding problem “as I can’t tell how much money Slam has left”.

Slam raised $575 million in an IPO in February 2021 during the height of the SPAC market. Reports suggest the amount of capital Slam possesses has since shrunk to about $272 million after a segment of shareholders redeemed their shares for return of the IPO capital when Slam previously asked for an extension to find a merger partner.

Caleb Henry, director of research for satellite and space financial research company Quilty Space, told MWL it was too soon to determine if the arrangement with Slam fulfills Lynk Global’s funding needs.

He noted the deal was non-binding, that the SPAC funding could vary based on redemption rates and that it was unknown “how much spending Lynk needs to conduct to achieve profitability”.

“Until those three things are clear, it’s hard to gauge the magnitude of this deal,” he said.

Lynk progress so far
It currently has three commercial satellite cell towers in space with ambitions to have up to 50 birds in operation by the end of 2024. After previously reporting Lynk Global was seeking additional investors earlier this year, SpaceNews stated in June the company had secured funding to deploy six additional satellites in January.

Lynk Global announced a partnership with operator Palau National Communications Corporation (PNCC) for a beta trial of its SMS service and later secured a deal with bmobile Solomon Islands. Last week, Rogers Communications and Lynk Global completed the first satellite-to-mobile phone call in Canada.

Lynk Global patented technology in 2017 and started commercial testing in space in 2019. The service is designed to work on 2G, 4G and 5G technologies.

Despite its early entry in the satellite-to-phone sector, Lynk Global faces an array of competitors including AST SpaceMobile, SpaceX-owned Starlink, Iridium, and Apple.

In July, Lynk Global laid claim to the first two-way voice calls on a satellite-to-phone service using standard phones while disputing AST SpaceMobile making the same claim in April.