BlackBridge, has entered into a definitive agreement for Planet Labs to acquire the RapidEye suite of core offerings. Planet Labs is a provider of a dataset of satellite imagery based in San Francisco, CA, US, that designs, builds, and operates a fleet of earth imaging satellites. The transaction is subject to the customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2015.

This is the next step toward achieving BlackBridge’s mission to explore the earth to empower decisions, aligning perfectly with Planet Labs’ mission. For years, BlackBridge has served customers across a broad range of domains, but has fundamentally focused on agriculture, energy and infrastructure, consumer mapping, government, business intelligence, and environmental and social impact. The result of this union with Planet Labs is expected to increase the value BlackBridge provides to existing customers and provide the means to expand into new domains.

The company is expected to operate largely as it does today. It is anticipated that customers will continue to experience the exceptional service they have come to expect from BlackBridge and will soon see the benefits of this new alliance.

Will Marshall, Planet Labs’ CEO, adds that BlackBridge brings a significant, global book of business and a substantial five-metre data archive from which to monitor global change. Planet Labs can fold their talented team, data collection, and deep industry roots into its organisation´s growing operation.

Source: GIM International