MDA Space is purchasing a controlling stake in Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), a French earth observation company, for 567 million euros ($920 million CAD) in cash.
The news: Brampton-based MDA announced it will acquire an approximately 70- percent stake in CLS following market close on Wednesday evening. France’s national space agency, Centre national d’études spatiales, will hold the remaining stake.
The acquisition will combine MDA’s physical satellite business with CLS’s earth observation services that are used to monitor and analyze the environment, fisheries, and other infrastructure from space. The transaction is slated to close either later this year or in early 2027.
From the source: “Our goal is for MDA Space to provide global government and commercial customers with the broadest and richest offering of multi-sensor Earth and space observation data, products, and services on the market,” MDA CEO Mike Greenley said in a statement.
MDA said the deal will create “one of the largest space-based geointelligence businesses in the world.”
Following the thread: CLS has more than 14,000 customers in around 150 countries, and is expected to generate approximately 286 million euros in revenue in 2026. MDA said the deal is expected to double its recurring revenue and will help it establish a significant presence in growing European and international export markets.
To finance the deal, MDA is issuing 23 million shares as part of a bought deal offering that is expected to raise $819 million USD ($1.1 billion CAD).
Final thought: MDA is rapidly growing its worldwide footprint through acquisitions. Just last month, the company agreed to buy US satellite maker Blue Canyon Technologies in a cash deal backed by secured debt. Blue Canyon will add more than 400 employees and two manufacturing facilities in Colorado, a key aerospace hub, to MDA, while CLS will add another 1,200 employees across 40 sites worldwide.
Feature image courtesy MDA Space.