Defense firm Ursa Major to go public through $2.3 billion SPAC deal (updated)
UPDATE 2-Defense firm Ursa Major to go public through $2.3 billion SPAC deal Adds background and details throughout
Aug 25 (Reuters) - Aerospace and defense company Ursa Major will go public in the U.S. through a $2.3 billion deal with blank-check firm Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. III, the companies said on Tuesday, helping it expand capabilities in high-demand weapons technologies including hypersonic engines.
Defense startups and suppliers have been attracting growing investor interest amid heightened geopolitical tensions, with demand rising for cheaper weapons that can be produced quickly, such as drones, autonomous systems and the rockets and missiles used to counter them.
The U.S. military is also ramping up investment in hypersonic technology as it competes in an arms race with Beijing to develop the most lethal hypersonic weapons. Hypersonic cruise missiles, which can travel at more than five times the speed of sound and evade traditional defenses, have also been used by Russia in its military operations in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, defense giant Lockheed Martin LMT.N announced a multi-million-dollar investment to improve the range and payload capacity of hypersonic missiles, while Leidos Holdings LDOS.N received a $2.7 billion contract in May to move its hypersonic weapons from prototype development into production.
Proceeds from the deal will help Ursa Major expand its production capabilities across solid rocket motors, the HAVOC Missile System and liquid hypersonic engines, the companies said.
In May 2025, the Berthoud, Colorado-based firm had supplied the liquid rocket engine that propelled a reusable hypersonic vehicle 'Talon-A' in a successful test.
It has also conducted more than 5,500 ground tests and 140,000 seconds of testing since its founding in 2015, while its engines have powered more than a dozen successful hypersonic missions, the companies said.
The deal implies a pre-money equity valuation of about $1.6 billion for Ursa Major and a post-transaction equity valuation of about $2.3 billion. It also includes an at least $350 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) led by Inflection Point.
Cantor is serving as lead financial advisor to Bleichroeder, while Moelis is exclusive capital markets advisor to Ursa Major.
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita, Shivansh Tiwary and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)