Benzinga | Apr 6, 2021 03:41PM EDT

AST SpaceMobile Says To Begin Trading On Nasdaq As 'ASTS' On April 7

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) ("AST SpaceMobile" or the "Company"), the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, today announced that it completed its business combination with New Providence Acquisition Corp. ("New Providence"). New Providence's stockholders approved the business combination on April 1, 2021. Beginning on April 7, 2021, AST SpaceMobile's Class A common stock and warrants will start trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbols "ASTS" and "ASTSW", respectively.



AST SpaceMobile's unique service offering is backed by an extensive IP portfolio and addresses a $1 trillion global mobile wireless services market. Once deployed, its services will eliminate connectivity gaps faced by at least five billion mobile subscribers and bring cellular broadband to approximately half of the world's population who remain unconnected, in collaboration with world-class mobile network operators and wireless infrastructure companies, including Vodafone Group ("Vodafone"), Rakuten and American Tower.

AST SpaceMobile has unveiled plans to launch, in partnership with Vodafone, the first phase of its space-based mobile network in 2023 to transform coverage for the 49 largest countries in the equatorial region; announced its 1,000th patentand patent pending claim in a testament to the Company's commitment to innovation and discovery; and announced expanded appointments to its Board of Directors.

"Completing this transaction and becoming a public company is not only a testament to the strength of our technology, partners and our team, but also affirms the power of our mission to provide connectivity from space to every mobile phone around the world," said Abel Avellan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AST SpaceMobile. "We are uniquely positioned to leverage our ground-breaking technologies to deliver affordable, accessible coverage to hundreds of millions of people. As a result of this transaction, we believe we are fully funded and prepared to execute phase one of our commercial launch and bring coverage to 49 countries in the equatorial region with a total population of approximately 1.6 billion people."

AST SpaceMobile received $462 million in gross proceeds from the transaction, consisting of New Providence's approximately $232 million cash in trust and approximately $230 million from a PIPE investment, including investments from Rakuten, Vodafone, American Tower, UBS O'Connor. The Company had no debt on the balance sheet at closing.

"With its innovative and patented technology solution, built-in access to 1.3 billion people through some of the world's largest cellular operators, and efficient business model that enables worldwide expansion, we believe AST SpaceMobile is poised for significant and sustainable growth as a public company," said Alex Coleman, Chairman of New Providence. "We are pleased to support AST SpaceMobile's mission to achieve global cellular broadband connectivity and believe it is ideally positioned to capitalize on a unique market opportunity that will deliver compelling value to customers and investors over the long term."

Barclays acted as financial advisor and capital markets advisor to AST SpaceMobile. Barclays and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. acted as placement agents to New Providence in connection with the PIPE offering. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and BTIG LLC acted as financial and capital markets advisors to New Providence. Latham & Watkins LLP and Foley & Lardner LLP acted as legal counsel to AST SpaceMobile, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to New Providence.