April 13, 2021
Willkie represented Genesis Park Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in its business combination with Redwire.
On March 25, it was announced that Willkie client Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: GNPK), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and Redwire, a leader in mission-critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, have entered into a definitive merger agreement that will result in Redwire becoming a publicly traded company. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2021, and at that time, Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. will change its name to Redwire and the company will trade on the NYSE.
The business combination values Redwire at a pro forma enterprise value of $615 million and the transaction is expected to deliver approximately $170 million in cash to the Redwire balance sheet (assuming no redemptions). The deal includes a fully committed and oversubscribed $100 million common stock PIPE with participation by Senvest Management, LLC and Crescent Park Management, L.P. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of Redwire and Genesis Park, is subject to approval by Genesis Park's shareholders and other customary closing conditions.
Redwire provides critical space infrastructure technology and services and is uniquely positioned to deliver solutions to meet the growing needs of national security, civil, and commercial customers for a full spectrum of activity in space.
GNPK is one of the first aerospace and aviation services special purpose acquisition companies, and may pursue an initial business combination in any industry or geographic region, but specifically seeks to capitalize on the operational and investment experience of the GNPK management team and Board of Directors by focusing on companies that have significant growth prospects in the aerospace and aviation services sectors.
The multidisciplinary Willkie team was led by partners William Gump and Jesse Myers and associate Thomas Sharkey, and included associates David Araoz and Michael Manopla and law clerk Alex Gulbrandsen.
