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General business description
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
General business description  
General business description

1.  GENERAL BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

Maxar Technologies Inc. (the “Company” or “Maxar”) is a leading provider of solutions in Earth intelligence and space infrastructure. Maxar helps government and commercial customers to monitor, understand and navigate the changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. The Company’s approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deliver services with speed, scale and cost effectiveness. The Company works to help customers globally harness the potential of space. Maxar’s stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “MAXR”.

On January 1, 2019, the Company completed a reorganization of its corporate structure pursuant to which the Company directly acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Maxar Technologies Ltd. (“Maxar Canada”), and the Company replaced Maxar Canada as the publicly-held parent company of the Maxar group (“U.S. Domestication”). Prior to U.S. Domestication, Maxar Canada reported to securities regulators in both Canada and the U.S., financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Upon completion of the U.S. Domestication, and including the report herein, the Company has prepared its financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”).

Definitive Agreement to Sell MDA

On December 30, 2019, the Company announced that Maxar Technologies Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Maxar (“Maxar Holdings” and, together with the Company, the “Sellers”), and Neptune Acquisition Inc., a corporation existing under the laws of the Province of British Columbia and an affiliate of Northern Private Capital Ltd. (“MDA Purchaser”) entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 29, 2019 (the “MDA Agreement”), that provides for, among other things, the MDA Purchaser to purchase MDA, the Company’s Canadian subsidiary, from the Sellers for an aggregate purchase price of approximately C$1.0 billion (the “MDA Transaction”). The MDA business encompasses ground stations, radar satellite products, robotics, defense and satellite components. Pursuant to the Agreement, the MDA Purchaser will acquire all of the outstanding shares in the entities that operate Maxar’s MDA business. This expected divestiture represents a strategic shift in the Company’s business and, in accordance with U.S. GAAP, qualifies as a discontinued operation. As a result, the operating results and cash flows related to the MDA business have been reflected as discontinued operations in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The assets and liabilities that are to be sold have met the requirements to be classified within the Consolidated Balance Sheets under a held for sale designation. See Note 4 for details. As a result of classifying the MDA reporting segment as discontinued operations, the Company is now comprised of two reportable segments: Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure.