Space-Eyes, which sells AI-driven geospatial intelligence and counter-drone technology, has signed a definitive agreement to go public through McKinley Acquisition Corp. The release leads with $638 million. Nearly every figure in it needs a qualifier.
Two valuations, and the smaller one is the real one
The $638 million is post-money equity value assuming zero redemptions and only the $5 million initial PIPE. SPAC shareholders redeem, frequently at high rates. The enterprise value is $370 million — a difference of $268 million between the number in the headline and the number describing the business.
The proceeds are mostly conditional
"$251.7 million in gross proceeds" comprises $176.7 million of trust capital, which shareholders are entitled to redeem rather than roll over, plus up to $75 million of PIPE financing. Of that PIPE, $5 million is committed at initial closing; the other $70 million is described as arriving at "subsequent closings", which is not a commitment.
Against what business
Roughly $1 million of annual revenue, and about $35 million of contracts under negotiation spread over five years. Under negotiation means unsigned and unbooked.
The name in the coverage
Eric Trump is being used as the hook. He is the third-largest private investor and an adviser — not a principal, officer or director. And nothing has closed: the transaction targets Q4 2026 and requires shareholder and regulatory approval.
What the company sells
Space-Eyes works in geospatial intelligence and counter-drone detection, applying AI to satellite and sensor feeds for maritime and border monitoring. It is a real category with real government buyers, and it is also the category where the gap between a demonstrable capability and a signed contract is widest — procurement runs in years, and the $35 million pipeline is spread across five of them.
Why the redemption clause matters most
In a SPAC, public shareholders can take their money back out of the trust rather than roll into the merged company. High redemption rates are the norm, not the exception. That is why the $638 million figure — which assumes nobody redeems — is the least likely of the numbers in the release to describe what the company is worth on its first day of trading.