Pacific Corporate Group LLC, a private equity investment, fund management and advisory firm, has led an equity financing round totaling more than $110 million for ORBCOMM, a Dulles, Va.-based provider of global satellite telecommunications services.
Pacific Corporate Group has committed to purchase $60 million in preferred equity of ORBCOMM for a minority stake in the company. Other investors participating in the financing round include MH Equity Investors, Northwood Ventures, OHB Technology AG, Ridgewood Capital, Torch Hill Capital, and members of ORBCOMM senior management.
“Our investment in ORBCOMM reflects our strategy of investing in well-managed, established companies that have significant growth potential,” said Tim Kelleher, a Managing Director of Pacific Corporate Group. “ORBCOMM is a leading player in satellite telecommunications that has positioned itself for rapid growth based on global coverage, reliable service and competitive pricing. The productivity and security benefits its telemetric and telematic solutions make possible are increasingly recognized as commercial imperatives. In addition, ORBCOMM is developing several new applications in important areas such as homeland security that enhance the ability to track ships and hazardous cargoes, including a pilot program with the US Coast Guard.”
Proceeds from the financing round will be used primarily to fund ORBCOMM’s next generation satellite program, which will replenish the existing 30 satellites in ORBCOMM’s low-earth orbit constellation and upgrade the network’s infrastructure over the next few years. These next generation satellites will have unique features and additional capabilities, which will allow ORBCOMM and its partners to
offer new products and services. Following the final stages of a competitive bidding process, ORBCOMM expects to sign contracts early in 2006 with vendors who will partner on the first deployment of this satellite replenishment program.