The founders of struggling space company Astra have offered to take the company private at a value of about $30 million, according to a securities filing on Thursday.
Chris Kemp, chairman and CEO, and Adam London, chief technology officer, delivered a proposal to the Astra board of directors on Wednesday to acquire all the company’s outstanding stock at $1.50 a share.
That price is a 103% premium to Wednesday’s closing price at 74 cents a share, which represents a market value of about $16 million.
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Astra’s rocket launching business has been on hiatus since a June 2022 mission failure. The company is running out of cash, with its acquired spacecraft propulsion business yet to drive meaningful quarterly revenue. Astra cut 25% of its workforce in early August to shift focus from its rocket development to its spacecraft engine production.
Last month, Astra’s cash reserve slipped below $10.5 million and it defaulted on a debt raise, it disclosed on Friday. The company then on Monday raised financing from a pair of investors to pay off that outstanding debt.
Astra went public via a SPAC merger at a $2.6 billion valuation in February 2021. The company aimed to cheaply and rapidly produce small rockets. While Astra reached orbit twice successfully, the company suffered three launch failures after going public.
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