Space SPAC stock AST SpaceMobile begins trading on the Nasdaq

Shares of satellite-to-smartphone broadband firm AST SpaceMobile started buying and selling on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, with the corporate the primary amongst a flurry of latest house corporations to shut its SPAC deal.

AST SpaceMobile trades underneath the ticker ASTS, with shares beforehand listed underneath the SPAC New Windfall earlier than the merger.

A SPAC—or particular function acquisition firm—is a shell firm that is designed to lift cash via an preliminary public providing for the aim of buying a non-public agency and taking it public.

The inventory climbed as a lot as 5% in early buying and selling on Wednesday, up from its earlier shut of $11.60 a share.

AST SpaceMobile, based mostly in Midland, Texas, is constructing a community of satellites, often known as a constellation, that’s designed to ship broadband from house on to shopper smartphones.

Present satellite tv for pc networks require extra bodily gadgets to connect with the service, resembling Iridium’s cell satellite tv for pc telephones or SpaceX’s Starlink consumer terminals.

The corporate, which raised about $120 million in non-public capital earlier than the SPAC deal, expects so as to add about $462 million in complete proceeds from the merger. The brand new capital will fund the corporate’s improvement of its community, with AST planning to launch its subsequent demonstration satellite tv for pc BlueWalker 3 later this yr.

The shut of AST’s deal comes as the primary amongst a latest sequence of house SPACs. Together with AST, seven house corporations have introduced SPAC mergers previously six months.