Iridium, the US-based satellite communications operator that emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy seven years ago, is preparing for a private equity offering to be followed by an initial public offering in the next 12 to 24 months.

The company, which has been increasing its subscriber base at a double digit pace over the past 18 months and now has a total of about 212,000 subscribers, including about 100,000 using Iridium’s satellite-based mobile phones, has appointed Evercore Partners to advise it on the private equity round that is likely to total several hundred millions of dollars.