After Eutelsat with OneWeb, the satellite operator Intelsat is also thinking about merging with Ses
According to rumors from the FT, the US Intelsat and the Luxembourgish Ses are in active talks on a possible merger. The rumors come a week after the French Eutelsat confirmed the dialogues with the British rival OneWeb
Consolidation maneuvers underway among satellite operators.
According to a Financial Times report, US Intelsat and Luxembourg's Ses are discussing a potential deal against the backdrop of competition from Elon Musk's aerospace company and a rapidly consolidating satellite industry.
Last week, French satellite company Eutelsat said it was in talks about a possible merger of all shares with UK rival OneWeb. Meanwhile, US satellite telecommunications operator Viasat is also in the final stages of acquiring Britain's Inmarsat with a $ 7.3 billion deal expected to close by the end of the year.
In its report, the London financial newspaper claims that a merger between SES and Intelsat would create a group with an annual turnover of around $ 4 billion.
All the details.
MERGER NEGOTIATIONS IN PROGRESS BETWEEN INTELSAT AND SES?
Luxembourg satellite group Ses is in talks to merge with US rival Intelsat, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, signaling consolidation in the competitive and fast-moving sector.
According to sources cited by the City newspaper, discussions are at an early stage and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached. "Neither of us wants to be the last one standing," one of the sources told the Ft .
HOW THE TWO COMPANIES DO
If SES has a market capitalization of € 3.5 billion and net debt of € 3.6 billion, Intelsat came out of bankruptcy earlier this year with a debt of $ 7 billion.
The American group, which provides broadband services to business and government customers, is evaluating the possibility of launching a network at lower altitudes, focusing mainly on the so-called Middle Earth Orbit (MEO), located more than 2,000 km above the earth. Ses already has a constellation Meo, which is currently updating.
SES GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS (SES) JUST ENGAGED GES BY LEONARDO DRS
In May, SES said it expects demand for its services in Ukraine to have a positive effect on second-half revenues, after posting higher-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Furthermore, from 1 August Ses Government Solutions, based in Reston, Virginia, controlled by the Luxembourg-based Ses, has officially incorporated Global Enterprise Solutions (Ges), business unit of the defense contractor Leonardo Drs. The sale of Ges by Leonardo Drs to Ses for an amount equal to 450 million dollars, gross of taxation was announced on March 22 last.
The company said the investment accelerates SES 'strategy of growing its defense and government businesses. “SES revenue from serving the US government will double in size with the combination of GES and SES GS,” said Pete Hoene, president and CEO of Ses Government Solutions.
THE COMMENT OF THE ANALYSTS
Returning to the possible merger between Intelsat and Ses, the FT recalls that Credit Suisse analysts wrote in April that synergies from a potential combination between the two operators could generate $ 2.6 billion in shareholder value, with an increase 30% of the share price of Ses.
However, according to CS analysts, a stumbling block could be the Luxembourg government, which owns 33% of the voting rights in SES, although a deal would offer voting rights in an enlarged company.
THE COMPETITION OF SPACEX AND MORE
New rivals like Musk's SpaceX have rocked the industry's old order, betting big on cheaper, smaller satellites operating from low earth orbit (LEO). Older players in the industry have become increasingly aware of the need to reach scale – and a multi-orbit strategy that extends to different altitudes – to compete.
With Starlink SpaceX has surpassed its rivals by developing a constellation of satellites and recently broke the record for the number of rockets launched in a single year. But Elon Musk's company isn't the only private actor to compete with. Amazon with Project Kuiper is also aiming to build constellations of low-orbit satellites.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/dopo-eutelsat-con-oneweb-anche-loperatore-satellitare-intelsat-pensa-alla-fusione-con-ses/ on Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:26:38 +0000.