(Reuters) - Space transportation company Momentus Inc said on Wednesday it will go public through a merger with blank-check firm Stable Road Acquisition Corp (O:SRAC) in a deal valued at $1.2 billion including debt.
As part of the deal, Momentus will get $172.5 million from Stable Road and $175.0 million from other private equity investors.
The California-based startup sells in-space shuttle services that help move satellites between orbits. The combined company will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol "MNTS" after the deal closes.
A blank-check firm, also known as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), is a shell company which raises cash in an IPO with the goal of buying an unidentified private company, usually within two years, in a deal which would then take the acquired company public.
This year, a number of companies have preferred to go public through the SPAC route, as opposed to a traditional IPO.
Once confined to the backwaters of capital markets, SPACs emerged this year as a major driver of IPOs, led by splashy deals for the likes of space tourism company Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) Inc and fantasy sports and gambling company DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) Inc.