NextNav Shares Rise 30% After Acquiring Spectrum Licenses

By Emon Reiser

Shares of NextNav were on the rise after the 3D geolocation company said it agreed to a significant transaction to acquire additional spectrum licenses.

The stock soared 30.6% to $5.09 on Monday, putting it on pace for the largest one-day percentage increase for the stock on record. Shares are up 105% over the past 12 months.

The McLean, Va.-based developer of positioning, navigation and timing solutions, or PNT technology, said it would add 4 MHz in the lower 900 MHz band for a total purchase price of up to $50 million in cash and common stock from sellers Telesaurus Holdings GB LLC and Skybridge Spectrum Foundation.

"Acquiring these licenses in the same lower 900 MHz band as our current licensed spectrum will provide NextNav with broader capacity to advance and strengthen PNT services in the future," Chief Executive Mariam Sorond said.

A spectrum license gives a company exclusive rights to transmit on an assigned frequency band. NetNav's PNT technologies are utilized for critical infrastructure, GPS and commercial use cases.

The deal would bring NextNav's combined assets to a total of 3.5 billion MHz-Pops of low band spectrum, referring to the amount of megahertz multiplied by the population in a certain area.

The terms of the deal say NextNav will pay out $2.5 million of the purchase price within 30 days of the court granting the receiver authority. The remainder will be paid in NextNav common stock, based on the achievement of certain milestones including regulatory approvals by entities including the Federal Communications Commission.

Write to Emon Reiser at emon.reiser@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2024 12:18 ET (16:18 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.