WHERE ARE WE IN THE SMALLSAT M&A CYCLE?

Alexis Sáinz is the global co-leader of the Hogan Lovells Space and Satellite practice and a member of the Infrastructure, Energy, Resources & Projects group. She regularly represents export credit and multilateral development agencies, satellite operators, aerospace manufacturers, launch services providers, communications companies, financial institutions, project sponsors, private equity firms, hedge funds, and other industry participants on structured, project and vendor financings, in negotiating commercial and corporate transactions, and with commercially strategic regulatory matters. She also provides industry advice in connection with debt and equity offerings, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions, and financial restructurings.

Alexis works with investors and lenders to understand the underlying issues impacting space projects and companies, at the intersection of commercial, regulatory and financing aspects of a transaction. She works with project parties to focus on key deal points and to identify appropriate industry-based risk mitigants and efficient allocation of risk in order to build consensus and drive closure. She works with companies to build a project and financing strategy from the ground up, anticipating financing issues early in the development of a new project or the growth of a company.

Alexis co-chairs the American Bar Association’s Committee on Space Law. She co-authored the chapter on “Commercial Satellite Programs” in the Routledge Handbook of Space Law. Prior to beginning her legal career in 2007, Alexis spent over 10 years working in internet-based industries, including e-commerce and media. She previously served as a consultant for the World Bank, National Geographic, and domestic non-profit organizations in connection with internet-based technology, and she was an early member of KPMG Peat Marwick’s financial service’s e-commerce consulting practice, where she focused on emerging technologies.

Mr. Letarte is a Principal at AE Industrial and is primarily focused on originating, executing and monitoring portfolio investments. Mr. Letarte currently serves on the Board of Directors of AE Industrial portfolio companies: Belcan and York Space Systems. Prior to joining AE Industrial in 2018, Mr. Letarte was an Associate at Moelis & Company, where he focused on M&A, restructuring and strategic corporate advisory across a broad spectrum of industries including aerospace and defense, industrials, healthcare and consumer. Prior to joining Moelis, Mr. Letarte was an Analyst in J.P. Morgan’s Leveraged Finance Group, where he focused on clients in the technology, media and telecommunications sector.

Akshay Patel is a Managing Director in the Strategic Advisory Group at PJT Partners, based in New York.
Akshay Patel has over 16 years of experience in the aerospace and satellite industry across finance, business development and engineering. Through his years of experience as an advisor, start up operator and engineer, Akshay has built relationships across the landscape of traditional aerospace and new space companies.
Prior to joining PJT, Akshay was Vice President of Corporate Development at OneWeb where he led all M&A, partnership, and new business efforts. Prior to Oneweb, he was the Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Planetary Resources where he led the company’s strategic planning, sales and partnerships activities.
Akshay also spent 5 years in investment banking at Morgan Stanley based in New York. As part of the Media Comms group, Akshay focused on advising companies across the satellite industry value chain including the advising on sale of Skybox Imaging to Google, the merger of DigitalGlobe and GeoEye, and the IPO of Intelsat.
Prior to Morgan Stanley, Akshay was an aerospace engineer at Lockheed Martin where he designed and built telecommunication and remote sensing satellites. In addition, he published one of the first small satellite market studies in the industry
Akshay has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University

Mr. Schmidt is a Managing Director at KippsDeSanto & Co. and co-heads the Aerospace / Defense Group.

Prior to joining KippsDeSanto & Co., Mr. Schmidt was a Senior Vice President in Houlihan Lokey’s Washington, DC office and a member of its Aerospace·Defense·Government Services industry investment banking group, where he focused on sellside and buyside M&A advisory engagements, sourcing growth capital, and conducting strategic alternatives assessments. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey’s ADG practice, Mr. Schmidt was a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army, serving in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States in various combat arms assignments. He also served in the Pentagon on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, working on classified intelligence assessments and transformation efforts, and he served on the U.S. Army Staff, working on equipment modernization and weapons testing.

Mr. Schmidt earned a B.S. in engineering (aeronautical) from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an M.S. in operations research from the Naval Post Graduate School, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is registered with FINRA as a General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7, 63).