GHL Acquisition Corp. and Iridium Welcome FCC Approval
17 Août 2009 - 2:01PM
PR Newswire (US)
STOCKHOLDER VOTE SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 23 NEW YORK and BETHESDA,
Md., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GHL Acquisition Corp. ("GHL
Acquisition") (NYX: GHQ) and Iridium Holdings LLC ("Iridium") today
issued the following statement in regard to the Federal
Communications Commission ("FCC") approval of the companies'
combination. "We are pleased that the FCC has approved our
transaction," said Scott Bok, CEO of GHL Acquisition. "With all
regulatory approvals in hand, GHL Acquisition plans to hold a
special meeting of its stockholders to seek approval for the
transaction on September 23, 2009. We are enthusiastic about
bringing this to a close and are very pleased that Iridium
continues to demonstrate why it is a strong investment for our
shareholders." "The FCC's approval moves Iridium one step closer to
concluding this transaction and to strengthening our business for
the future," added Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. "This is good news
for us, our partners and our customers, and helps advance our plans
to build our next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium
NEXT." On September 23, 2008, GHL Acquisition and Iridium announced
that GHL Acquisition would combine with Iridium in a transaction
that furthers Iridium's plans to build Iridium NEXT and would
result in Iridium becoming a publicly traded company. In connection
with the transaction, on July 29, 2009, GHL Acquisition announced
further progress toward its combination with Iridium with a warrant
restructuring whereby GHL Acquisition entered into agreements with
certain warrant holders. Under the terms of the agreements,
approximately 26.8 million warrants issued by GHL Acquisition,
including 4.0 million warrants held by Greenhill & Co., Inc.
("Greenhill"), GHL Acquisition's sponsor, will be repurchased or
restructured upon closing of its Iridium acquisition. The warrants
subject to those agreements, combined with those subject to
previously disclosed agreements relating to warrant repurchases or
forfeitures, represent approximately 69% of the 44.1 million GHL
Acquisition warrants that would otherwise have been outstanding
following the Iridium acquisition. The effect of the agreements
with warrant holders is to significantly reduce the number of fully
diluted GHL Acquisition shares that will be outstanding following
completion of the Iridium acquisition. Stockholders of record as of
August 27, 2009 will be able to attend and vote at the special
stockholder meeting. A definitive proxy statement is expected to be
mailed to stockholders of GHL Acquisition around August 31, 2009.
About GHL Acquisition Corp. GHL Acquisition Corp. is a special
purpose acquisition company launched in February 2008, in an
initial public offering raising $400 million of gross proceeds.
Founded by Greenhill, GHL Acquisition was formed for the purpose of
acquiring, or acquiring control of, through a merger, capital stock
exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or
similar business combination, one or more businesses or assets. It
currently has no operating businesses. About Iridium Holdings LLC
Iridium Holdings LLC (http://www.iridium.com/) is the only mobile
satellite service ("MSS") company offering coverage over the entire
globe. The Iridium constellation of low-earth orbiting ("LEO")
cross-linked satellites provides critical voice and data services
for areas not served by terrestrial communication networks.
Iridium's subscriber growth has been driven by increasing demand
for reliable, global communications. Iridium serves commercial
markets through a worldwide network of hundreds of distributors,
and provides services to the U.S. Department of Defense, and other
U.S. and international government agencies. The company's customers
represent a broad spectrum of industry, including maritime,
aeronautical, government/defense, public safety, utilities,
oil/gas, mining, forestry, heavy equipment and transportation.
Iridium has launched a major development program for its
next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT, which will
result in continued and new Iridium MSS offerings. The company is
headquartered in Bethesda, Md. and is currently privately held.
Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words
"anticipates", "may", "can", "believes", "expects", "projects",
"intends", "likely", "will", "to be" and other expressions that are
predictions of or indicate future events, trends or prospects and
which do not relate to historical matters identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual results, performance or achievements of GHL Acquisition
and/or Iridium to differ materially from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of
historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking
statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, uncertainties regarding the timing of the proposed
transaction with Iridium, whether the estimates will be achieved,
whether the transaction will be approved by GHL Acquisition's
stockholders, whether the closing conditions will be satisfied
(including receipt of regulatory approvals), as well as industry
and economic conditions, competitive, legal, governmental and
technological factors. There is no assurance that GHL Acquisition's
or Iridium's expectations will be realized. If one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those expected, estimated or projected. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date hereof. Except for our ongoing
obligations to disclose material information under the Federal
securities laws, we undertake no obligation to release publicly any
revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to
report the occurrence of unanticipated events. Contact Info: James
Babski Liz DeCastro GHL Acquisition Corp. Iridium +1-212-372-4180
+1-301-571-6257 DATASOURCE: GHL Acquisition Corp.; Iridium Holdings
LLC CONTACT: James Babski of GHL Acquisition Corp.,
+1-212-372-4180, ; or Liz DeCastro of Iridium, +1-301-571-6257, Web
Site: http://www.iridium.com/
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