SPAB

Spacehab Inc., a provider of commercial space services, announced Oct. 6 that its common stock has closed for more than 30 consecutive days below the minimum $1-per-share requirement for continued inclusion on the Nasdaq National Market.

In accordance with Nasdaq rules, Spacehab has been afforded 180 calendar days — until April 2 — to regain compliance. To meet this requirement, the stock must close at a minimum of $1 per share or more for 10 consecutive trading days.

Spacehab, which performed its initial public offering in 1995, posted a profit of $48,000 in its most recent quarter on revenue of $14.6 million compared with a profit of $100,000 on revenue of $19 million in the same period a year ago.

The last time Spacehab’s stock closed above $1 was Aug. 18, but it was announced after the close of the market that a bid by Spacehab and Andrews Space Inc. was not among those selected by NASA to compete for a $500 million contract to launch and deliver crew and cargo to the International Space Station. Spacehab’s stock closed at 92 Aug. 21.

Shares have declined steadily since, closing at 69 cents the day of the Nasdaq warning was revealed and not climbing above 70 cents in the three days following the announcement.

THRAN.CO

Thrane & Thrane closed its acquisition of the mobile satellite communications operations of Nera ASA, Thrane & Thrane announced Oct. 10. The deal, announced in August, combines two providers of Inmarsat communications solutions.

Thrane & Thrane acquired Norway’s Nera Satcom AS and Germany’s European Satellite Link GmbH. Based on 2005 figures, the combined mobile satellite communications company reported revenues of 1.5 billion kroner ($257 million).

RRST

Israel-based RRSat Global Communications Network Ltd. filed a prospectus Oct. 10 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO).

RRSat is offering 3.6 million shares priced at $11 to $13 per share. The company applied to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol RRST and expects to complete its IPO by year-end.

SKYT

Skyterra Communications Inc. an-nounced Oct. 10 that it has executed an agreement with BCE Inc. to acquire BCE’s stake in Mobile Satellite Ventures LP (MSV).

As part of the transaction, Skyterra will swap about 21.4 million shares of its non-voting common stock to BCE in exchange for about 7.6 million limited partnership interests in MSV and the corresponding shares in the corporate general partner, reflecting the same exchange ratio used in recent transactions with MSV’s other partners.

Jeffrey Leddy, CEO and president of Skyterra, said "[with] this transaction, we will have completed the simplification of the ownership and control structure of MSV, and we believe, further enhanced MSV’s ability to pursue strategic opportunities and relationships." The closing of the transaction is expected no later than Jan. 5.

Skyterra’s option to acquire BCE’s stake was part of a deal completed in September in which Motient Corp. and Skyterra completed transactions designed to simplify the ownership and control of a pair of companies developing systems to provide Mobile Satellite Services. Motient acquired Terrestar Networks Inc. and consolidated the ownership and control of MSV and its corporate general partner under Skyterra.

MSV and Terrestar are developing separate advanced mobile satellite communications systems. MSV announced in January 2006 that it entered into an agreement with Boeing to build three next generation L-band satellites to enable commercial mobile satellite service using integrated space and terrestrial elements. The launch of the two satellites that will provide service for North America are scheduled to take place in mid 2009 and early 2010 respectively. The two satellites will replace and expand upon the current MSAT satellite system operated by MSV and MSV Canada and offer consumers advanced wireless communications services available.