AST SpaceMobile to acquire S-Band spectrum priority rights for $64.5M

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) announced an agreement to acquire global S-Band spectrum priority rights held under the International Telecommunication Union. AST SpaceMobile entered into an agreement to acquire an entity that holds certain S-Band ITU priority rights to Mobile Satellite Services frequencies in the range of 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz, for use in low Earth orbit. These spectrum priority rights will provide AST SpaceMobile a path to offer services in these spectrum bands around the world, subject to country-level regulatory approvals, supplementing the company’s core global 3GPP cellular spectrum strategy. The transaction has a total consideration of $64.5M, to be paid in stock or cash at the company’s election, with $26M paid at closing and deferred consideration of $38.5M, a portion of which is subject to achievement of performance-based milestones. The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2025. The closing is contingent upon the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.