Taking on a United States stock ticker will make Canada’s largest space technology company more accessible to American investors and put it in a strong position to pursue acquisitions in the U.S. and Europe, the company’s chief executive said.  

MDA Space Ltd. made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday with a US$300- million initial public offering (IPO), trading under the MDA symbol. The Brampton, Ont.-based company specializes in satellite systems, space robotics and geointelligence.  

MDA Space chief executive Mike Greenley said having shares listed on both the NYSE and the Toronto Stock Exchange can be used as “currency” for future acquisitions and allows the company to tap into “space-intensive” U.S. investors.  

“In the United States, there are groups of investors that have a deeper knowledge and appreciation for the space market because there are more space companies,” he said after ringing the NYSE opening bell to celebrate his company’s listing.

The offering is expected to close on or about March 16. Greenley said proceeds from the IPO will be used to pay off about $100 million in debt, which is expected to leave the company with “a couple hundred million in the bank account.”

He also said MDA Space will be in a strong position to consider foreign acquisitions, which would allow it to bid on government contracts.  

“For us eventually to have MDA Space USA and MDA Space Europe and be able to open up the government pipelines in those regions for us, that would be something to consider and something that we do pay attention to as we look for potential acquisition targets,” he said.  

Greenley said all the company’s business lines would be relevant to American and European markets, but a satellite manufacturer would make the most sense for an acquisition.  

“That way, you’ve already got an established capability to build spacecraft and space-grade systems and test them and deliver them, and that would be probably the strongest foundation for us to work from,” he said.  

In MDA Space’s fourth-quarter earnings call on March 4, Greenley said the company had identified $40 billion in cumulative opportunities over the next five years.  

He said those include commercial low Earth orbit satellite constellations, government constellations, Earth observation satellites, space observation satellites and commercial opportunities for space-grade robotics.  

MDA Space also launched 49North Ltd. last month, a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to the Canadian defence market.  Ottawa has earmarked $6.6 billion for the plan as part of its pledge to boost defence spending by $82 billion over five years.

Greenley said both 49North and its parent company can produce made-in-Canada solutions for some of the sovereign capabilities identified in Canada’s defence industrial strategy, including space, digital systems, sensors and uncrewed and autonomous systems.  

“We’re very well positioned as a defence prime contractor in Canada with solid capability in four of the ten sovereign capability areas that Canada wants to ensure are executed from Canadian companies,” he said.  

MDA Space went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2021, and its shares on Thursday afternoon were trading lower for the day, but were up 53 per cent over the past year. 

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