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Ex-Avanti pair establish new satellite business

September 28, 2021

David Williams and David Bestwick, who were two directors of Avanti Communications prior to the company going bankrupt back in 2018, have established a new business and now have a Nasdaq stock market listing.

Arqit Quantum saw its shares commence trading on Sept. 7 having gone through a SPAC merger with Centricus Acquisition Corp., and is planning to launch a pair of satellites in 2023. The brief is that the craft will carry on-device encryption keys for what is described as symmetric encryption. Arqit says they will provide ultra-sophisticated encryption and protect businesses from cyber attacks.

Arqit was founded in the UK in 2017, and says its investors include Notion Capital, Seraphim Space, Evolution Equity and the UK government’s Future Fund. Arqit says its current customers include the UK Government, the European Space Agency, BT plc, and Sumitomo Corporation, while the likes of Verizon, BP, Northrop Grumman, and Iridium are testing Arqit’s technologies.

Williams owns 27 per cent of the business and Bestwick 24 per cent. However, the shares have been subject to some extreme volatility. For example, on September 23rd the shares crashed 21.9 per cent (and 16.7 per cent the following day). They closed September 24th at $24.24.

As to actual trading the company is guiding to revenues of $14 million this year, but growing to $660 million in 2025.

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