The California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) is set to generate a return of approximately two times its investment in a radio spectrum portfolio managed by private equity firm Grain Management, following an $8bn acquisition agreement with SpaceX, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The US pension fund reportedly committed more than $500m to Washington-based Grain Management through its Grain Spectrum Holdings V fund and a separately managed account. The investments provided exposure to 800MHz wireless spectrum licences acquired from T-Mobile, which SpaceX has now agreed to purchase.

The transaction is expected to deliver a distributed to paid-in capital (DPI) multiple of almost 2x for Calpers, translating into proceeds of at least $1bn in just over a year. Grain, founded by David Grain in 2007, had initially targeted approximately $6bn for the spectrum portfolio before securing the higher valuation from SpaceX.

SpaceX reportedly plans to use the licences to expand its Starlink satellite-to-cell connectivity services, including coverage for indoor mobile devices. The transaction remains subject to approval from the US Federal Communications Commission.