The operation is intended to compete with major group in the sector, Starlink, of the American SpaceX.
Le Monde with AFP
The French Satellite Operator Eutelsat announced, Tuesday, July 26, having signed “a memorandum of understanding” to merge with the British Oneweb and its constellation, an operation intended to create a rival, in the race Internet from space, to Starlink of the American SpaceX.
After announcing on Monday being in “discussions (…) for a possible rapprochement” with Oneweb, of which he is already a shareholder up to 23 %, Eutelsat confirmed Tuesday that the shareholders of the two companies will each hold 50 % actions of the future combined group.
The transaction, which will be done by exchange of shares, values Oneweb at 3.4 billion dollars, involving a value of 12 euros per Eutelsat action, said the company in a press release . The realization of the operation is planned by “at the end of the first half of 2023”, she added.
bring out a new giant
Specialist in geostationary orbit, with its fleet of thirty-five satellites positioned 36,000 kilometers from the earth for satellite and high speed internet services, Eutelsat had seen its title dive, Monday 25 July, from 17.8 %, citing 8.57 euros on the Paris Stock Exchange after the announcement of the rapprochement.
The British company Oneweb has already deployed 428 of the 648 satellites of its constellation in low orbit, a few hundred kilometers of altitude in order to provide high speed and low latency or transmission time Data, essential to meet strong growth needs.
In addition to the Indian conglomerate Bharti (30 %) and Eutelsat (22.9 %), Oneweb’s capital includes the British government (17.6 %), the Japanese Softbank (17.6 %) and the Korean Conglomerate Hanwa (8.8 %).
eutelsat is 20 % owned by Bpifrance, the French Public Investment Bank of the French State, as well as by the Strategic Participation Fund (FSP) held by seven French insurers, the rest of the capital being floating.
This merger project aims to position the new set in the high -speed spatial internet sector, in particular to serve isolated regions without fiber optics. A market estimated at $ 16 billion by 2030, according to Eutelsat. Located a few hundred kilometers above sea level, these satellites, smaller than the traditional telecommunications satellites, allow low latency communications.
elon Musk is one step ahead
In this race, the American SpaceX of the billionaire Elon Musk took one step ahead. More than half of the 4,408 satellites in its constellation Starlink have already been deployed – it wishes 42,000 in the long term. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, counts, for his part, put more than 3,200 satellites for his Kuiper constellation.