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The ASX-listed spy satellite company has appointed a new executive to lead its financial operations.
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Alan Khalili has been named as the new chief financial officer (CFO) of Kleos Space — a space-powered radio frequency reconnaissance data-as-a-service (DaaS) and mission-as-a-service (MaaS).
Khalili, who replaces Iain Hackston, joins Kleos from SpaceLink, where he has served as CFO since April 2021.
The new appointee holds over two decades of experience as a CFO, investment banker at Credit Suisse, and CPA at Ernst & Young.
Khalili’s career has also included work as a technology entrepreneur across DaaS, aerospace/satellite, business information, wireless voice, and IoT telecommunications.
The incoming Kleos CFO’s career highlights include:
- delivering high yield debt and equity raising – VC capital raising ($270 million), PE investing (~$125 million), as well as high yield and project finance debt (~$4 billion);
- co-founding (and CFO of) Aireon — a space-based DaaS provider of real-time surveillance data; and
- managing multiple M&A-related transactions in the business information and communication industries.
Khalili welcomed the opportunity to help drive the ASX-listed firm’s expansion strategy.
“It is exciting to leverage my prior experiences in the space and data sector to support Kleos’ growth,” he said.
Kleos CEO Andy Bowyer reflected on the benefits of leveraging Khalili’s experience.
“We are fortunate to have attracted a candidate of Alan’s calibre to Kleos as we evolve in a dynamic and fast paced environment, always looking out for new strategic opportunities,” Bowyer said.
“I am delighted to welcome Alan to this crucial position and believe his strong financial and business operations expertise will be of great value for the next chapter of Kleos’ growth.”
Outgoing CFO Iain Hackston is expected to assume a role across financial planning and analysis (FP&A).
The announcement comes a week after Kleos secured a $10 million debt facility from an Australian asset management company.
The company is expected to leverage the funds to increase operational capacities and finance the expansion of its network of satellite clusters beyond the 16 planned for 2022.
The Luxembourg-based ‘“spy satellite” company is best known for using its clusters in low-Earth orbit to geolocate emissions from passing ships that may be trying to hide their positions from tracking services.
Kleos currently has a constellation of 12 satellites with the launch of its fourth cluster planned in the coming months.
[Related; Kleos postpones satellite launch due to ‘vibration issues’]
