The Virgin Orbit constructing is seen after the corporate paused operations final week, in Long Beach, California, U.S., March 22, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings filed for Chapter 11 chapter on Tuesday after the satellite tv for pc launch firm failed to safe the long-term funding wanted to assist it get well from a January rocket failure.
The Long Beach, California-based firm lodged the submitting within the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in search of a sale of its property after asserting the layoff of roughly 85% of its 750 staff final week.
“At this stage, we believe that the Chapter 11 process represents the best path forward to identify and finalize an efficient and value-maximizing sale,” Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart stated in a press release.
The firm listed property of about $243 million and its complete debt at $153.5 million as of September 30 within the submitting.
Virgin Orbit went public in 2021 by a blank-check deal, elevating $255 million lower than anticipated. Spun off from Branson’s house tourism agency Virgin Galactic in 2017, Virgin Orbit air-launches rockets from beneath a modified Boeing 747 aircraft to ship satellites into orbit.
The firm’s sixth mission in January with its centerpiece LauncherOne rocket, the primary rocket launch out of Britain, failed to attain orbit and despatched its payload of U.S. and UK intelligence satellites plunging into the ocean.
Between November and March, Branson’s Virgin Group offered $50 million to the satellite tv for pc launch firm by way of debt secured in opposition to its gear and different property within the occasion of a chapter, in accordance to securities filings.
Virgin Orbit, roughly 75%-owned by Virgin Group, scrambled to discover new funding after the January rocket failure, halting operations and furloughing almost all its staff on March 15 to preserve money.
Reuters reported final month that Texas-based Matthew Brown had been in talks to make investments $200 million within the firm. Those talks collapsed, sources instructed Reuters final week.
The March 30 announcement of about 675 layoffs got here on account of “the company’s inability to secure meaningful funding,” Virgin Orbit stated. Those layoffs are anticipated to be considerably full by Monday.
Virgin Orbit on the time secured $10.7 million from Branson’s Virgin Investments Limited to fund severance for staff and different bills tied to the layoffs, which it estimated would price $15 million.
Virgin Investments will present $31.6 million in new cash to Virgin Orbit by debtor-in-possession financing, Virgin Orbit stated Tuesday.
Virgin Orbit had a market worth of $65 million primarily based on Monday’s closing worth, down from greater than $3 billion two years in the past.
