Space investment trust Seraphim blasts off with plot to raise new funds
Seraphim Space is working with Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan on plans to raise further funding by selling new shares to investors, Sky News learns.
Wednesday 2 March 2022 19:47, UK
Seraphim Space, the London-listed investment trust focused on the final frontier, is drawing up plans for a bumper new fundraising after backing a string of companies since its flotation last summer.
Sky News has learnt that Seraphim Space is working with advisers on a new cash call that is expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
City insiders said it was likely to raise well over £100m, although precise details, including the timing, have yet to be finalised amid the market fallout arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Since raising £150m in its initial public offering last July, Seraphim has invested in companies including Arqit Quantum, which itself went public in the US late last year.
Its portfolio also includes HawkEye 360 and Astroscale, into which it ploughed a combined £27m.
Seraphim Space's shares have performed strongly over the last eight months, with the company now boasting a market capitalisation of close to £270m.
Its flotation came amid soaring investor interest in the space industry as governments become more competitive in seeking to encourage inward investment in the sector.
Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, which helped take Seraphim Space public, are understood to be working on the new share sale.
The fund was founded in 2016 by Mark Boggett, its chief executive, alongside James Bruegger and Rob Desborough.
Its early backers included the British Business Bank, the European plane-maker Airbus and the European Space Agency.
Seraphim Space declined to comment.