[SatNews] The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, LLP represented Iridium Communications, Inc. in the US$1.8 billion financing for its nexgen satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT, comprising of 66 operational low-earth orbit satellites and a number of in-orbit and ground spares.

Milbank was also involved in the Iridium NEXT procurement process and represented the company in negotiations with Thales Alenia Space, the prime contractor for the manufacture of the satellites, and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the launch services provider. The COFACE-backed credit facility for Iridium NEXT is being provided by a syndicate of nine banks led by Société Générale, Deutsche Bank AG, Banco Santander SA, Natixis and Mediobanca International S.A., and includes BNP Paribas, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. and Unicredit Bank Austria AG. The credit facility consists of two pro rata tranches, with a fixed tranche of up to US$1.537 billion and a floating tranche of up to US$263 million.