MDA Closes on SatixFy Digital Payload Acquisition 

MDA Headquarters (photo by MDA)

MDA closed on its acquisition of SatixFy Space Systems UK (SSS) on Oct. 31, the company announced. MDA announced its plan to acquire the digital payload division of SatixFy Communications in late August to bolster its offerings in the digital satellite communications market. 

The SSS division is based in the United Kingdom and MDA said it will integrate it into the company’s U.K. subsidiary, MDA UK. It will accelerate its market expansion in the U.K. and add in-country capability to produce satellite payloads.

The SSS team will work with MDA’s Satellite Systems business in Montreal to advance its new digital satellite product offering, adding complementary digital payload expertise and capacity.  

“This acquisition bolsters MDA’s digital satellite capabilities and advances our satellite systems strategy as we continue to invest and expand in next generation satellite technology and talent to meet growing customer demand,” MDA CEO Mike Greenley commented. 

SatixFy is headquartered in Israel and is known for developing user terminals and modems and its in-house chipsets. SatixFy retains all its related ASIC intellectual property and new chip development.

Overall the deal was worth $60 million. MDA paid $40 million for the subsidiary, and paid an additional $20 million in advanced payments under new commercial agreements for future orders of space grade chips.

SatixFy said it has seen increased interest in its solutions since announcing the deal. “MDA has been a steadfast SatixFy customer, and we look forward to deepening the collaboration between MDA and SatixFy into new areas,” CEO Nir Barkan said. “We expect the transaction will allow us to broaden and grow our chipset sales throughout the satellite digital-payload market.”