Branson’s Virgin Orbit to go public through a SPAC at $3.7 billion valuation

Branson’s Virgin Orbit to go public through a SPAC at $3.7 billion valuation

Virgin Orbit, the satellite-launching spinoff off of  , is preparing to go public, announcing Monday that it will merge with a SPAC to list on the Nasdaq. The company is combining with special purpose acquisition company , as . It trades on the Nasdaq under ticker "NGCA," until the expected close of the transaction near the end of the year, when the shares will convert to "VORB." The SPAC — co-led by George Mattson, who previously co-led Goldman Sachs' global industrials group, and former PerkinElmer chairman and CEO Gregory Summe — values Virgin Orbit at $3.7 billion in equity. The deal is expected to raise $483 million for Virgin Orbit, including a $100 million PIPE round – or private investment in public equity – raised by investors such as and private equity firm AE Industrial Partners. A , the company is  by Branson's multinational conglomerate Virgin Group, with a minority stake from Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala — which together have invested about $1 billion in Virgin Orbit to date. The company uses a modified  747 aircraft to launch its rockets, a method known as air launch. Rather than launch rockets from the ground, like competitors