French satellite company Eutelsat is preparing to acquire British competitor OneWeb. It already owns 23% of the operator's shares and is its second largest shareholder. However, the UK will retain veto power over critical decisions on the operation of the combined company.
OneWeb was valued at $3.4 billion in its latest funding round, one source said.
The merger of the two companies will solidify their position in the race to build a constellation of low-orbit satellites, challenging companies such as SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Kuiper project.
The merger has been called politically sensitive as it will make Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, France, China and the UK shareholders in the new company. Mittal's Bharti Global is OneWeb's largest shareholder, while Eutelsat's largest shareholder is French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, which owns 20% of its shares. Eutelsat's fourth largest shareholder is the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation.
Sources note that OneWeb, for its part, was bailed out of bankruptcy by the British government and India's Bharti Global. After the takeover, the British government will get a minority stake in the combined business. Eutelsat's market value on the Paris Stock Exchange is €2.4 billion ($2.45 billion) and net debt reaches €3 billion.
The UK will retain special rights to OneWeb after the deal, including veto power over sales to customers deemed dangerous for security reasons and veto power over changes to the headquarters location, another source said.
These special rights entail the right to veto business dealings that could jeopardize the work of the so-called Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance, which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The UK will also have a special say in supply chains and satellite launch decisions.
OneWeb previously said it would continue to launch satellites to provide broadband internet in the second quarter of next year. Previously, she collaborated with Roskosmos, but since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, she has terminated the contract with Russia. The Russian space agency demanded guarantees from OneWeb that its satellites would not be used for military purposes.
In March, OneWeb announced an agreement with SpaceX that provides for the resumption of satellite launches on the Falcon 9 rocket. At the moment, the details of the agreement have not been published.
In April, OneWeb also signed a contract with the commercial division of the Indian Space Research Organization NSIL to launch the system's vehicles. Vanotti said the satellites will be delivered into orbit using GSLV Mark III rockets. The number of launches also remains unknown.
bbabo.Net