Indeed, to better understand some of the options founders may have, we talked earlier today with Denny Kwon and Scott Anthony, both of whom represent the white shoe law firm Covington & Burling (where former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is also an attorney). DK: There is certainly a feeling of more pressure on sellers to get deals done as quickly as possible in light of the fact that there’s a lot of market volatility right now and they don’t know how buyers may be reacting to a significant decline in their stock price. With any volatility, you don’t get a clear sense of the inherent value of a share, so all-cash deals are much more favorable to targets.
Skyroot, the first private Indian company to design, build and test a solid rocket propulsion stage, has reached another key milestone in the development of its Vikram-I launch vehicle: a full-duration test of the rocket’s third stage. The third stage, dubbed Kalam-100 in homage to Indian rocket scientist and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, is just one part of the company’s debut rocket. Vikram-I includes three solid fuel stages, plus a liquid-fueled kick stage that’s designed to serve the small satellite launch market.