Hard on the heels of a Bloomberg report that Eutelsat Group is working with advisors to seek a buyer for its ground network, the French satellite operator has announced it is “analysing options” to partner with external infrastructure investors in its ground network.
In a statement released this morning, Eutelsat Group says: “At this time this analysis is preliminary in nature, and there can be no certainty that it will lead to a specific outcome. Eutelsat Group will communicate further only if and when this analysis materialises into a potential transaction.”
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that a sale could value the portfolio at more than €800 million ($850 million). Eutelsat Group, meanwhile, says it released its statement in response to “recent press speculation”.
Paris-based Eutelsat Group comprises both GEO satellite specialist Eutelsat and LEO satellite specialist OneWeb (now known as Eutelsat OneWeb), and lays claim to being the world’s first fully-integrated GEO-LEO satellite operator. Aviation is among the markets served, with the Group providing capacity to various integrators in the sector including but not limited to Anuvu, Hughes Network Systems, Panasonic Avionics, and Intelsat (which is in line to be acquired by SES).
In January, Eutelsat Group announced that delays to the ground network rollout for Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO constellation and other factors have prompted the firm to cut its fiscal year 2023-2024 earnings guidance and suspend its fiscal 2025 guidance.
“The results of the LEO activities of OneWeb, while progressing well, with 100% of the satellites in place and a backlog of $1.1 billion at the end of the last quarter, are running behind schedule relative to the original roadmap,” it said at the time.
However, one month later, management said at the APEX TECH conference in Los Angeles that these delays will not affect the launch of LEO-based inflight connectivity service in aero, which is planned for September.
Related Articles:
- SES to be prominent aero player with plan to buy Intelsat for $3.1b
- Eutelsat flags OneWeb ground network delay as it cuts guidance
- Eutelsat OneWeb to support inflight connectivity from September 2024
- OneWeb-powered Galileo to be competitively priced to Starlink: Gogo
- Panasonic’s Wade on how OneWeb LEO differentiates in aero
Featured image credited to Eutelsat Group
