A cross-unit team at Shepherd & Wedderburn has been instrumental in assisting US inward investor Mangata Edge with concluding investment documentation for a significant manufacturing facility, announced by Scottish Enterprise. The facility is to be built at Prestwick Aerospace Park for manufacture, research & development and testing, for Highly Elliptical Orbit and Medium Earth Orbit satellites as well as for operations of the company's global satellite network.

The investment follows a $33million fundraise concluded last year in the USA for the parent company, Mangata Networks Inc, in which Scottish Enterprise participated. Since then, negotiations have centred on the terms of the £83.7m funding by Scottish Enterprise and the Ayrshire Growth Fund for the construction and subsequent lease (with purchase option) to Mangata of the new facility.

A team led by Judith Stephenson, Euan McLeod, George Frier and Neil Campbell has been working on the project for over a year alongside Mangata's in-house counsel and senior management team. Additionally, Shepherd and Wedderburn's Gillian Moore and John Vassiliou, have provided employment and immigration advice for the recruitment of the project team in anticipation of activity ramping up locally. It is expected that up to 575 jobs will be created, many of them skilled graduate positions. Brodies (Michael Stoneham, Jamie Nellany, Juliet Haldane and Laurence Douglas) acted for Scottish Enterprise.

This is part of Scottish Enterprise's participation in the Ayrshire Growth deal, a multi-agency and Scottish government backed initiative to create a centre of manufacturing excellence for the satellite and space industry around Prestwick Airport (already home to numerous aerospace and related companies).

Felicia Hanson Ofori-Quaah, General Counsel at Mangata Networks, commented, "The knowledgeable and experienced team at Shepherd & Wedderburn were instrumental in getting this significant transaction over the line for Mangata. They often went above and beyond to ensure that the ultimate goal was achieved, notwithstanding the nuances and complexities of the transaction."