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IPO Watch: World's first space investment trust to list on London Stock Exchange

The space industry is projected to be worth trillions of dollars. Photo: Getty/Craig Bailey/Florida Today via USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA
The space industry is projected to be worth trillions of dollars. Photo: Getty/Craig Bailey/Florida Today via USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA (SIPA USA/PA Images)

Investors' money could go intergalactic with the London Stock Exchange's latest offering, as Seraphim Capital gears up to list.

The company claims to be the world's first space investment trust to go public, making space tech investing accessible to retail investors.

On Tuesday last week, the company published its prospectus and further details on how to invest, including the list of participating share dealing providers.

The IPO is aiming to raise £180m ($250m) by issuing up to 180 million ordinary shares at 100p per share.

On its website Seraphim says the trust "targets early stage growth companies that have the potential to dominate globally."

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The Seraphim Space Fund is backed by leading “space corporates” and international space agencies, including investors in Airbus, SES, Teledyne, Telespazio, SSTL and accelerator partnerships including Rolls Royce, Inmarsat, European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency.

Mark Boggett, Seraphim's managing director said on a call to investors that there is a “unique value proposition in space” and that we are “still only at the foothills of the growth of this market”.

The space tech sector is forecast to grow to trillions of dollars, with the numbers of satellites in space potentially growing ten-fold, from 11,000, in the next decade.

"It's a multi-trillion, multi-market opportunity," said Boggett.

Space tech has been championed in recent years by corporate heavyweights including SpaceX's Elon Musk, Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos and Virgin boss Richard Branson — these were the catalyst that opened the door to other investors, said Boggett.

"The sector is now at a critical inflection point. With record levels of investment, it is likely that in the next few years the category leaders in each part of the space tech market will become established, enabling them to potentially dominate some very large market opportunities for years to come," says the prospectus.

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The portfolio currently supports 63 space tech startups, including the likes of AST — a company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network; ArQuit — satellites that support cybersecurity; and Xona — a company providing new tech for navigation.

Watch: What are SPACs?