News Release
GHL
ACQUISITION CORP. AND IRIDIUM
WELCOME FCC
APPROVAL
STOCKHOLDER VOTE
SCHEDULED
FOR
SEPTEMBER
23
NEW YORK, NY and BETHESDA, MD –
August 17, 2009 – 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 (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.
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Contact
Info:
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James
Babski
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Liz
DeCastro
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GHL Acquisition
Corp.
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Iridium
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jbabski@greenhill.com
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Liz.DeCastro@iridium.com
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+1-212-372-4180
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+1-301-571-6257
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