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Laser Firm Mynaric Said to Draw Peter Thiel, ARK to U.S. Listing

Laser Firm Mynaric Said to Draw Peter Thiel, ARK to U.S. Listing

Investors Peter Thiel and Cathie Wood are among those to have snapped up shares in Mynaric AG as part of the German laser communication firm’s $66 million U.S. listing, according to people familiar with the matter.

PayPal Holdings Inc. co-founder Thiel and Wood’s ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF have spent about $5 million each on Mynaric’s American depositary shares, which are expected to start trading on Nasdaq Friday, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

German entrepreneur and existing Mynaric investor Christian Angermayer, and Tinder LLC co-founder Justin Mateen, also acquired shares in the sale, the people said.

Representatives for Angermayer and Thiel confirmed the investments, while Wood and Mateen weren’t immediately available for comment. A spokesperson for Mynaric declined to comment.

Germany-listed Mynaric priced 4 million American depositary shares at $16.50 each, with every four of these representing one ordinary share in the company. The final pricing represented a 3% discount to its Thursday closing price in Frankfurt. Proceeds will be used to increase production and develop technologies.

Mynaric shares have fallen 11% this year, giving the company a market value of about 268 million euros ($306 million). 

Founded in 2009, the company specializes in laser-based technologies for beaming communications via satellites, drones and airplanes. Industry players including Starlink Inc., OneWeb Ltd. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Project Kuiper are increasingly connecting remote areas of the world to the Internet and also seeking to capitalize on next-generation defense systems in air and space.

Earlier this month, U.S. defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. struck a minimum $35 million contract with Mynaric to use its products on future projects linked to government space programs.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.