One Day, Two SPACs: $1.84 Billion Says the Blank-Check Revival Is Real

Monday was the blank-check market's busiest day in months: two technology companies — a satellite maker and a cyber-intelligence firm that sells to governments — agreed to go public through SPAC mergers with a combined enterprise value of about $1.84 billion, in the clearest sign yet that the SPAC revival has moved from issuance into dealmaking.

Astro Digital's $587 million satellite bet

Astro Digital has agreed to merge with Proem Acquisition Corp I, a Nasdaq-listed blank-check company, in a deal that values the satellite maker at about $587 million in pro forma post-money enterprise value. Reuters reported the agreement on Monday.

The transaction carries up to about $180 million in gross proceeds: up to $130 million of cash held in Proem's trust account — assuming no redemptions — plus about $50 million from PIPE investments led by Proem Asset Management and Leon Capital Group. Proem Asset Management and its affiliates have committed $25 million of that PIPE, according to the companies' announcement.

Both boards approved the deal unanimously. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to approval by Proem's shareholders, a minimum cash condition of $30 million, the effectiveness of a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, and other customary closing conditions. The combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq.

Astro Digital designs, manufactures and operates satellites for applications including Earth observation, communications, space infrastructure and defense. Since 2018 it has delivered nearly 40 satellites and served more than 30 customers, including NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, Boeing and Sony, according to Reuters.

Unlike much of the space sector, the company says it is already profitable. Co-founder and chief executive Chris Biddy said Astro Digital has delivered nearly 40 satellites profitably, with revenue compounding at 42 percent annualized over two years, positive adjusted EBITDA, and a backlog that doubled last year. Biddy's management team is expected to remain in place after the transaction. On the SPAC side, Proem is chaired by chief executive Imran Khan, the founder and chief investment officer of Proem Asset Management.

REDLattice's $1.25 billion cyber-intelligence play

The larger of the two deals pairs defense-technology firm REDLattice with Bold Eagle Acquisition Corp., a Nasdaq-listed SPAC, at a pre-money enterprise value of $1.25 billion. The companies said Monday they have entered into a definitive agreement for the business combination; the combined company would list on the Nasdaq under the ticker "REDL" upon closing, which is anticipated around year-end 2026.

The transaction is expected to provide up to about $610 million of gross proceeds: $335 million of committed capital from new and existing mutual fund and institutional investors, plus up to about $275 million from Bold Eagle's trust account, assuming no redemptions.

The committed capital breaks into two parts: $275 million of convertible notes anchored by Loomis Sayles, featuring a 4 percent coupon and a $12.50 fixed conversion price, and $60 million of common stock PIPE priced at $10.00 per share, including affiliates of existing investor AE Industrial Partners and Eagle Equity Partners.

Founded in 2012, REDLattice delivers lawful-intercept, vulnerability-research and intelligence-acquisition solutions to U.S. and allied government agencies. The company sells exclusively to government agencies at the nation-state or federal level and counts more than 100 customers across 23 countries. For the twelve months ended June 30, 2026, it generated $267 million of revenue, representing 29 percent year-over-year growth, with a contracted backlog of $200 million and an active pipeline of $1.5 billion.

Chief executive Andy Boyd is the former director of the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence. Existing REDLattice shareholders will roll over 100 percent of their equity, and AE Industrial will remain the largest shareholder of the combined company. Proceeds are earmarked to refinance all of REDLattice's existing debt and fund the final cash earnout payment from its acquisition of Paragon Solutions Ltd., with the remainder for working capital, organic growth, product expansion and disciplined M&A. Goldman Sachs advised Bold Eagle; Jefferies advised REDLattice, with both also serving as placement agents. Bold Eagle is led by co-chairmen Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky and chief executive Eli Baker — the team behind Eagle Equity Partners' prior public acquisition vehicles.

The revival, by the numbers

The two announcements land inside a genuine issuance boom. Dealogic data cited by Reuters in June showed 145 blank-check companies going public in 2025 — the highest annual total since 2021 — and another 107 listing in 2026 through June 15, up sharply from 57 in the same period a year earlier. Separately, SPAC Research data cited by Morningstar showed 62 SPACs going public in the first quarter of 2026 and raising a cumulative $13.2 billion, with 41 SPACs filing, 17 announcing merger transactions and 10 closing deals in the quarter — all in line with 2025's pace.

Reuters' own framing in Monday's deal stories calls the trend what it is: SPACs are "making a comeback in the US after years of subdued activity," and early-stage space companies are "increasingly turning to SPAC mergers to tap strong investor demand and secure capital more quickly, as rising government spending and growing demand for satellite constellations fuel growth in the sector."

Redemptions, votes and the road to closing

Neither deal has closed, and the figures above are deal terms, not done transactions. On both sides the binding variables are familiar from the last SPAC cycle: shareholder approvals, redemption rates on the two trusts — both proceeds packages are stated assuming no redemptions — and the effectiveness of the SEC registration statements. For REDLattice, the real test is execution of the $335 million committed book and the debt-refinancing plan; for Astro Digital, it is the $30 million minimum-cash condition and the PIPE closing.

The throughline is government demand: satellites and cyber-intelligence, both sold in large part to the state, are now carrying the de-SPAC lane of the revival. If both deals close on schedule — year-end 2026 and the first quarter of 2027 — the revival will have something the last cycle's mania lacked: actual businesses with contracted revenue behind the ticker symbols.