York Space Systems eyes supplier acquisition after going public

York Space Systems’ blueprint for its initial future as a public company starts plans to acquire one of its suppliers, with whom the small satellite maker has entered into a letter of intent with.

All parties have entered into a letter of intent and York would pay $120 million in stock to buy that not-yet named company, according to an amended regulatory filing posted Friday.

That filing from York also lays out the terms of its pending IPO first announced in November, including the number of shares being offered to investors and the proceeds it is looking to fetch through the sale of stock.

York will offer 16 million shares at a price range of $30-to-$34 per share, which translates to a net proceed range of $473.6 million-to-$544 million. The IPO’s underwriters have the option to purchase up to 2.4 million additional shares if investors demand outstrips initial supply.

York’s net proceeds would rise to $546.2 million if the underwriters buy that full option. If all goes according to plan, the company would achieve a valuation of $4.25 billion from the IPO.

Shares in York will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “YSS.”

The new filing also offers more details on the post-IPO stake to be held by AE Industrial Partners, the private investment firm that acquired majority ownership of York in 2022.

AE Industrial will hold 24.4% of York’s common stock after the IPO, but retain more than half of the voting power on its board of directors. This means AE Industrial will continue to have control over York, much like how the investment firm essentially controls Firefly Aerospace following the latter’s IPO in August.

Founded in 2012 by chief executive Dirk Wallinger, York employs approximately 670 people and estimates it generated $384.1 million-to-$387.8 million in revenue for 2025. The company also pegs its net loss in the $83.2 million-to-$90.1 million range.

None of those figures are finalized yet as York is still auditing its financial results for 2025, but they do represent sharp growth from 2024’s revenue of $253.5 million revenue and reduced losses from $98.9 million.

Revenue for the first nine months of 2025 totaled $280.9 million on a net loss of $56 million, compared with the prior year period of $253.5 million in revenue on a net loss of $98.9 million.

As of Sept. 30, substantially all of York’s revenue and $642 million backlog comes from contracts with the Space Development Agency. York has won six contracts to build satellites across three tranches of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, SDA’s next-generation missile warning constellation.

Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Wells Fargo Securities the lead bookrunning managers for York’s IPO. J.P. Morgan and Citigroup are the joint bookrunning managers. Truist Securities, Baird, and Raymond James are the bookrunners. Canaccord Genuity, Needham & Company and Academy Securities are the co-managers.