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Space startup iRocket to go public via $400 million SPAC deal

Space startup iRocket to go public via $400 million SPAC deal

Reuters23-07-2025
July 23 (Reuters) - Reusable rocket developer Innovative Rocket Technologies, commonly known as iRocket, will go public in the U.S. through a $400 million merger with special purpose acquisition company BPGC Acquisition, the companies said on Wednesday.
SPAC deals, which took a backseat following a boom in 2020-2021, have seen a resurgence this year as macroeconomic uncertainties led by President Donald Trump's tariff policies continue to temper dealmaking.
Crypto firm Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, with over 30,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet, said it was aiming to list on Nasdaq through a merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-backed blank check firm.
SPACs are being increasingly viewed as a viable alternative to the traditional initial public offerings, which remained subdued through the tariff saga. However, progress in trade talks has rejuvenated investor interest in fresh listings.
The company, founded in 2018, specializes in liquid oxygen and methane-fueled rocket propulsion technology, which encompasses a quick turnaround time to reload and relaunch, through its patented engine design.
Space startups have also seen a lot of interest from investors and venture capital firms, with the World Economic Forum predicting a $1.8 trillion space economy by 2035.
The company also noted the same number, citing a report by McKinsey, indicating it as a major opportunity for the rocket developer.
"iRocket's unique combination of proven engineering talent, reusable launch systems, and solid rocket motor capability positions the Company to capture a significant share of the global launch and propulsion market," said Wilbur Ross, the 39th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and a sponsor of BPGC.
The transaction, on which Cohen & Company Capital Markets advised iRocket financially, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The companies intend to list the merged entity on Nasdaq.
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ChatGPT 5 in Microsoft Copilot : The AI Upgrade You've Been Waiting For
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ChatGPT 5 in Microsoft Copilot : The AI Upgrade You've Been Waiting For

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Yellowstone, Top Gun, Chalamet: what will the Paramount-Skydance merger mean for film and TV?
Yellowstone, Top Gun, Chalamet: what will the Paramount-Skydance merger mean for film and TV?

The Guardian

time28 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Yellowstone, Top Gun, Chalamet: what will the Paramount-Skydance merger mean for film and TV?

The merger between Paramount and Skydance has finally been completed, with various roadblocks (including Stephen Colbert, apparently, as well as the related 60 Minutes settlement/bribery) cleared from the path of a new entity called Paramount, A Skydance Corporation. It's an appropriately franchise-y moniker for a merger between a major Hollywood studio and a company that made its bones as a constant financer of some of its biggest movie series. This ends (for now) years of speculation over what might be done with Paramount, a global conglomerate that was nonetheless considered on less sure footing than its fellow remaining big five studios, Disney, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. (Well, maybe not the recently embattled Warner Bros, though they seem to have gotten a major reprieve with their killer 2025 slate) Skydance honcho David Ellison is the new Paramount CEO. The new co-chairs of Paramount Pictures will be Skydance executive Dana Goldberg and former Sony executive Josh Greenstein. But with Ellison at the top boasting years of Skydance experience, he'll ultimately be determining Paramount's fortunes as a movie and TV company. The son of billionaire Larry Ellison, David for years seemed like he got into the movies primarily to work in closer proximity to airplanes. His first film as a producer was the 2005 flop Flyboys, a world war one fighter-pilot drama that was an early strike against the burgeoning movie career of star James Franco. Undeterred, the next year he founded Skydance Media, the kind of thing a 23-year-old budding pilot can do if they happen also to be a billionaire's son. Over the years, the company co-financed a number of big Paramount productions. 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Elon Musk's AI making explicit videos of Taylor Swift
Elon Musk's AI making explicit videos of Taylor Swift

Telegraph

timean hour ago

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Elon Musk's AI making explicit videos of Taylor Swift

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