Latham & Watkins Advises AST & Science in Transaction to Become Public

AST & Science LLC (AST SpaceMobile), the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, has announced it has entered into a business combination agreement with New Providence Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. Upon closing of the transaction, AST SpaceMobile will become a publicly traded company, and it is expected that its common stock will be listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol “ASTS” upon closing the transaction. Abel Avellan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AST SpaceMobile, will continue to lead the business post-transaction. The combined company will have an implied pro forma enterprise value of approximately US$1.4 billion and is expected to have an equity value of approximately US$1.8 billion at closing. 

In connection with the combination, AST SpaceMobile and New Providence have secured a commitment for a US$230 million private placement investment to be consummated at the closing of the transaction. 

Latham & Watkins LLP represents AST & Science in the transactions with a corporate team led by Los Angeles partner Brad Helms and Houston partner Ryan Maierson, with Los Angeles associates Todd Noelle, Devon MacLaughlin, and Catherine Shaw. Advice was also provide on other corporate matters by Century City partner David Zaheer; on tax matters by Los Angeles partner Laurence Stein, with Los Angeles associate Abigail Friedman; on benefits and compensation matters by Los Angeles partner Larry Seymour, with Orange County associate Sara Schlau and Chicago associate Victoria Wolfe; on regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Jim Barker; on technology transactions by Los Angeles partner Ghaith Mahmood, with Los Angeles associate Jia Jia Huang; and on antitrust matters by Bay Area partner Joshua Holian.