(Bloomberg) --

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is close to a deal to combine with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II, a blank check company led by former Goldman Sachs partner George N. Mattson, Sky News reported Saturday.

NextGen II is in exclusive talks with the Low Earth Orbit satellite business, which is 80% owned by Virgin Group and 20% by Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, the network said citing unidentified sources.

A definitive deal valuing Virgin Orbit at about $3 billion could be announced in the coming weeks, Sky said.

Mopre: Ex-Goldman Partner Mattson’s SPAC NextGen 2 Files for $400M IPO

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.