TAMPA, Fla. — European regulators have launched a preliminary investigation into Luxembourg satellite tv for pc fleet operator SES’ multi-billion-dollar plan to purchase U.S.-based rival Intelsat.
The European Fee set a June 10 deadline to resolve whether or not to clear the cope with or with out situations, or open a full-scale, doubtlessly four-month-long probe into any severe issues about its results on competitors.
SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh advised analysts in the course of the firm’s April 30 earnings name that the operator anticipates closing the transaction early in a beforehand forecasted window of the second half of 2025.
The UK’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) began reviewing the deal earlier this month, setting a June 12 deadline for its preliminary investigation.
The CMA may additionally select to provoke a extra detailed evaluation of the merger, which John Worthy, a associate at regulation agency Fieldfisher, mentioned is usually concluded inside 24 weeks however could also be prolonged by as much as eight extra weeks.
“In that case, the timeline for closing may prolong to late 2025/early 2026,” he mentioned through e mail.
The transaction requires clearances throughout a number of jurisdictions as a result of international scale of each companies, which mixed would function greater than 100 geostationary and 26 medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites.
Collectively, the businesses additionally plan to deploy an extra eight geostationary and 7 MEO satellites earlier than the tip of 2026, considerably increasing capability to tackle rising broadband competitors from SpaceX’s Starlink community in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Al-Saleh mentioned in the course of the earnings name that the merger had already cleared smaller regulatory approvals in nations corresponding to Brazil.
Nevertheless, he listed the European Fee and CMA as among the many most important remaining opinions, together with the Federal Communications Fee and Division of Justice in the US.
Regulators are more likely to study whether or not the merger may reduce competitors in areas the place SES and Intelsat have complementary or overlapping capabilities, corresponding to authorities and mobility companies, the place each serve mission-critical clients, in addition to in mounted knowledge markets that assist telecom and cloud integration.
Extra monetary particulars
In an F-4 regulatory submitting submitted April 29 to the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee, SES estimated a 3.5 billion euro ($4 billion) value for the acquisition, made up of three billion euros in money and 531 million euros in contingent funds, tied to the potential monetization of Intelsat’s C-band spectrum.
SES additionally mentioned the mixed firm would have generated 3.7 billion euros in income in 2024 and 1.8 billion euros in adjusted EBITDA — or earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — on a professional forma foundation.
The operators have beforehand estimated 2.4 billion euros in synergies from their mixture, together with financial savings from optimizing their mixed fleets and floor infrastructure, with 70% achievable inside three years of closing the deal.
“The Mixed Group is predicted to be a stronger multi-orbit operator higher in a position to compete in a fast-moving communications panorama and reply to the evolution of competing communications applied sciences,” SES mentioned within the F-4 submitting, “corresponding to new and quickly rising non-GEO satellite tv for pc constellations from well-funded LEO satellite tv for pc suppliers and larger commoditization of satellite tv for pc capability and connectivity.”
The necessity to counter rising competitors from Starlink and different upcoming LEO operators contributed to the approvals regulators gave U.S.-based Viasat in 2023 to purchase British peer Inmarsat.
Regardless of launching prolonged in-depth investigations into Viasat’s acquisition, the European Fee and CMA each mentioned new entrants had been more likely to exert adequate aggressive strain on the merged group in markets corresponding to inflight connectivity.
SES outcomes
Publicly listed SES’ acquisition of its privately held rival comes as declines within the Luxembourg-based firm’s legacy media enterprise proceed to weigh on its financials.
Media revenues fell 10.6% year-on-year to 206 million euros for the three months to the tip of March, when adjusted for international trade charges, impacted by the chapter of Brazilian buyer Oi.
In distinction, revenues from its networks enterprise rose 8.4% to 302 million euros, pushed by robust demand for mobility and authorities companies.
French satellite tv for pc fleet operator Eutelsat additionally just lately reported continued declines in its broadcast phase alongside progress in connectivity companies, reflecting the business’s broader shift away from legacy media and towards data-centric purposes.
Whole SES revenues for the primary quarter of 2025 slipped 0.5% to 509 million euros, and adjusted EBITDA fell practically 1% to 280 million euros.
