US financiers praise Jabiru project

Geoff Long

Two of the partners of NewSat's Jabiru-1 satellite – the US Export-Import Bank and satellite manufacturer Lockheed Martin – have praised the impact the project will have on the US economy.

Speaking at a special function in Washington DC to announce the completion of financing to US media, Linda Reiners, president commercial ventures, Lockheed Martin, said the Jabiru project could be responsible for creating up to 1,000 jobs. She also praised the role of the Ex-Im bank, which is providing around US$290 million of the $600 million needed to fund the project.

“The Ex-IM bank has had the foresight to recognise that the satellite industry is an important component to the overall business base of the United States. If you think about Jabiru as an example, notionally on the surface you could say it brings around 150 high tech jobs, primarily in California, Pennsylvania and Mississippi. But when you add the supply chain and you look at the effect it has across the industry, virtually throughout the United States and even globally, it's close to 1000 jobs,” Reiners said.

“And if you look at the economic benefit across the United States, it's close to 500 million dollars, and that's just one simple thing for one simple satellite and yet it has a profound effect,” she noted. “I also think when you combine that type of financial support to the industry as well as export reform, I feel very pleased with the position the United States is taking to ensure we can compete on a global market.”

Fred Hochberg, president of the US Ex-Im Bank, also noted that the Jabiru-1 project was part of an increasing focus the bank has in Australia.

“Australia has been a strong market for the United States in the last couple of years. Between what's going on in mining and a lot of the natural resources and the satellite deal, our exposure in Australia, which was a few hundred million dollars, has gone up to just under five billion dollars with this transaction,” Hockberg noted.

As first reported in CommsDay, the company raising the final $105 million needed to complete its
funding package via an equities raising last month. The delays in financing will now see the launch date for Jabiru-1 pushed back from 2014 to the middle of 2015.

As well as the Ex-Im bank of the US, France's equivalent COFACE facility is providing US$110 million, with French company Arianespace providing the launch facility. NewSat CEO Adrian Ballintine also gave a breakdown of the final US$100 million equity raised by geography, with around 30% of the funding coming from Asia, 30% from the US, 20% from Australia and another 20% from the UK.

And according to Singapore's Business Times, other key finance came from Singapore property developer Ching Chiat Kwong. The paper said that the key financiers of the mezzanine portion of the finacing include Ching, whose Oxley Holdings is known for “shoe-box apartments” in Singapore.

Also invested in the project is Singapore-based family-owned private-equity unit Daun Consulting,
which is headed by Bryan Yap, a friend of Ching.