UrtheCast’s Ultra HD video camera installed on the ISS [video]

I got curious about how a company had done a deal to put a camera on ISS and sell the pictures for profit so I started Googling. It looks like they basically did a deal with RSC Energia and the Russian Federal Space Agency. However, what's far more interesting is what I found out about how UrtheCast raised the money to make this happen.

UrtheCast started out as a privately-held (i.e. pre-IPO) startup company called Earth Video Camera Inc (EVC). EVC raised C$4.5m in 2012 but the bulk of its funding came last year when it completed a reverse takeover of a publicly-traded company called Longford Energy.

Longford used to be an oil and gas exploration firm but in 2012 it sold its sole remaining asset (a 40% share of an oilfield in Iraq) and ended up with a pile of cash ($25m) but no operating business or significant assets. Instead of returning the cash to the shareholders (which would presumably have incurred dividend taxes), Longford's management decided to pursue "acquisition opportunities"[1]. However, a couple of hedge funds got involved and convinced the other Longford shareholders that they'd do a better job than the existing management team who were duly fired and replaced with the hedge funds' team[2].

Six months later, EVC and Longford announced[3] the reverse takeover, which was duly completed in June last year - Longford "acquired" EVC by issuing shares in Longford to UrtheCast's shareholders. Normally, that sort of deal involves a larger company acquiring a smaller one but, in this case, EVC was valued at nearly three times Longford, so EVC shareholders ended up owning three quarters of Longford. The EVC management team took over running the combined company and changed the company name to UrtheCast. The $25m effectively became an investment in UrtheCast by Longford's original shareholders.

Reverse IPOs (where the company that wants to IPO is "acquired" by a shell company that already has a public listing) like this aren't unusual (it's a way of bypassing all the hassle that usually accompanies an IPO) but it's the first time I've heard of it being combined with what amounts to an investment round.

[1]: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/07/12/longford-energy...

[2]: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/08/13/longford-energy...

[3]: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1138175/urthecast-to-complet...

Here you can find more about the installation. It's happening right now.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-cosmonauts-to-make-2nd-a...

First camera is installed and working. Now they're working on the second.

Thanks for the research and writeup. That was really fascinating.

As a shareholder, I wonder how I'd feel. It's not exactly what I signed up for, but then again it's probably giving my investment a second lease on life.

The cameras are space tested, are builded by RAL similar life expectance as a satellite.