Maritime Launch Services ends SPAC merger, work in Ukraine continues

It's been an eventful couple of months for Maritime Launch Services. SpaceQ spoke with CEO Steve Matier who brought us up to speed with the latest developments including the announcement of $7 million in new funding. In November of 2021 Maritime Launch Services announced it was going public through a reverse takeover of Jaguar Financial Corporation, listed on the NEO Exchange. In December they announced the creation of a US subsidiary. This was then followed in early February that they would be foregoing the reverse takeover and merging with Ceres Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), also listed on the NEO Exchange. This week, Maritime Launch Services told SpaceQ that negotiations had ended with Ceres and that there would be no merger. Matier would not comment as to why, but he did say the parting was amicable. This year, SPAC mergers have been falling through at a rapid clip as the markets continue to deal with the pandemic, supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine, and inflation which has given rise to talk of a possible recession. Matier did say that the ending of the merger was in part a result of market conditions and Maritime Launch Services would be better off pursuing its original public listing goal. That goal, the reverse takeover of Jaguar Financial is now complete as of Monday (April 4). Maritime Launch Services issued a press release announcing the completion of the reverse takeover along with the news that they had raised an additional $7,029,500 from "a non-brokered private placement of 9,372,690 subscription receipts." Jaguar Financial Corporation has changed its name to Maritime Launch Services Inc. (MLSI), an Ontario business corporation. Maritime Launch Services Ltd., the private Nova Scotia company which entered into the reverse takeover with Jaguar is now being amalgamated into a new corporation, Maritime Launch Services (Nova Scotia) Ltd., which becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of MLSI. MLSI has received a conditional approval letter from the NEO Exchange on March 30, 2022 for its listing on the exchange. While Matier said he could not comment as to when MLSI might get final approval from the NEO Exchange, at this stage it's typical that the listing being live isn't too far off, possibly this month. With respect to its outstanding shares, MLSI said that "the Company now has outstanding (i) 403,460,592 common shares, (ii) 25,650,000 stock options exercisable at $0.167 per common share, (iii) 1,010,039 stock options exercisable at $0.125 per common share, (iv) 3,780,000 warrants exercisable at $0.056 per common share, (v) 13,500,000 warrants exercisable at $0.078 per common share, (vi) 3,559,500 warrants exercisable at $0.147 per common share, (vii) 2,810,430 warrants exercisable at $0.167 per common share, and (viii) $7,500,000 of convertible debentures maturing in May 2023 and convertible into common shares at a conversion price of $0.147 per common share." The board of directors has changed with the addition of two people. Previously the directors were Steve Matier (President and Chief Executive Officer), Sasha Jacob (Chairman) and François Desjardins. Now added are; Susan McArthur – Director: Susan McArthur is an experienced corporate director, venture capitalist and investment banker. She is currently Co-Founder and Executive Chair of LockDocs Inc., a digital identity as a service start-up and sits on the boards of Great-West Lifeco Inc., Irish Life, Canada Life UK and IGM Financial Inc. She was previously a Managing Partner at GreenSoil Investments, a venture capital firm focused on investing in proptech. Ms. McArthur also sits on the not-for-profit board of The Atlantic Salmon Federation. Ms. McArthur was recently named Chair of the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee and Chair of the Province of Ontario's Portable Benefits Advisory Panel. She is also the former Chair of the Canada Revenue Agency Board of Management. Previous board directorships include Power Financial Corporation, Chemtrade Logistics, First Capital Realty Inc., KP Tissue, KPGP, Globe Alive Wireless, True Patriot Love Foundation, Les Jardins de Metis, The Canadian Club, Luminato, The Toronto Film Festival, and The Power Plant. Ms. McArthur completed the Rotman School of Management ICD program and is a graduate in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario (now Western University). She speaks French fluently. Keith Abriel - Chief Financial Officer: Mr. Abriel is a Chartered Professional Accountant, a CFA Charterholder, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Cum Laude) from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. An experienced financial executive, Mr. Abriel has previously served as the Chief Financial Officer and as a Director of a number of public and venture backed private companies over his 25-year career. Mr. Abriel is a Past President of the Atlantic Canada CFA Society. He also spent nine years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. Ukraine Update A report early on in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia stated that the facilities of Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash had been hit by missiles. That report turned out to be in error. In fact, Matier told SpaceQ that both companies, located in the city of Dnipro, are still operating. Matier said Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash were still under contract, being paid, and working. Yuzhnoye continues to work on the designs for the MLSI spaceport while Yuzhmash was in the process of fabricating sub-components for the 1st stage of the Cyclone 4M launch vehicle.