Highlighting Gogo's market expansion plans with the upcoming acquisition of Satcom Direct, Gogo chief operating officer Sergio Aguirre shared that this was the third—finally successful—attempt to secure a deal to buy the connectivity and communications provider. Speaking to reporters during NBAA-BACE, Aguirre explained that issues such as debt payments hindered previous efforts.
He opened the briefing on Gogo Inflight’s acquisition of Satcom Direct with a question posed to the gaggle of reporters present. “So, what do you all think of the news? Were you expecting it? What does the industry think?”
He also pushed back on the notion that the merger was spurred by the increasing prevalence of Starlink in the space, saying that conversations about a merger began before the company—a subsidiary of Elon Musk's SpaceX—became a player.
“This was not an acquisition based on defense,” he said, “We’re on full-on offense.”
He added the company is not focused on acquiring Starlink’s customer share but on the 70% of customers who do not currently have wireless connectivity in the market.
“This has nothing to do with Starlink, but it sure is going to make their life hard,” he said.
Bigger questions like where the company will eventually be headquartered were left open-ended for now.
Under the agreement announced on September 30, Satcom Direct will receive $375 million in cash and five million shares of Gogo stock at closing and up to an additional $225 million in payments tied to realizing certain performance thresholds over the next four years. The deal is expected to close by year-end.