Bharti Space to invest additional ₹1,200 crore in Eutelsat
This investment by Bharti Enterprises' space venture is in addition to ₹ 300 crore or €30 million, which it had committed earlier through a reserve capital increase process. Bharti Space holds a 24.09% stake in Eutelsat Group.
On 19 June, Eutelsat announced that it is raising capital of €1.35 billion (around ₹ 11,250 crore)through a mix of a reserve capital increase worth €716 million ( ₹ 6,865 crore) and a rights issue of €634 million ( ₹ 6,330 crore).
In the Thursday update, it increased the capital raising round size to €1.5 billion (over ₹ 15,000 crore) after the UK government committed to joining the fundraising round. The round now includes €828 million (around ₹ 8,304 crore) through reserve capital increase and a rights issue of €672 million (around ₹ 6,739 crore).
Eutelsat expects the fundraising to be completed by the end of this year.
To be sure, the UK government holds a 10.9% stake in Eutelsat currently. It has committed to invest a total of €163.3 million (around ₹ 1,638 crore).
The satellite operator aims to use the fresh funds to pare debt and expand investments in satellite constellations, as it pushes to cement its role in the global space communications market, it said in the 19 June statement.
'Today, governments require secure and reliable sovereign connectivity solutions, and Eutelsat is uniquely positioned to meet this need. Eutelsat's OneWeb was the first complete low-earth orbit constellation, and the company is the first and only provider able to provide customers with access to both low-earth orbit and geostationary orbit services,' said Sunil Bharti Mittal, co-chairman of Eutelsat Group, in the Thursday statement.
'This new capital injection will allow Eutelsat to go further and faster in developing innovative new technologies and services under the leadership of its new chief executive, Jean-François Fallacher,' Mittal added.
Bharti Space, along with other key investors—the French government, UK government, shipping major CMA CGM, and sovereign investor Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP)—will participate in both parts of the fundraising.
Eutelsat said the commitments of the reserved capital increase by investors remain subject to shareholders' approvals at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, which will be held around the end of the September quarter. The same is also subject to other statutory approvals.
With the investment commitment of a total of ₹ 1,500 crore, Bharti's shareholding in Eutelsat Group would be around 17.8%. The French government will become the largest shareholder with a 29.65% stake as it is investing €750 million (around ₹ 7,518 crore).
In the merged entity of Eutelsat OneWeb, Bharti owns a 21% stake.
Bharti's shareholding in the company will reduce as, post the fundraising via reserve capital increase and rights issue, Eutelsat's overall share capital will increase. This would lead to potential dilution.
Eutelsat's reserved capital increase is being carried out at €4 per share, representing a 32% premium over the company's 30-day average share price on the Euronext Paris stock exchange as of 18 June's close.
'In the current environment, it is crucial that our countries continue to collaborate and support each other, including in space, which has become a key sovereign strategic asset. We remain committed to the UK, which we consider as one of our home markets, and to supporting the development of OneWeb to address the needs of all our sovereign and commercial stakeholders,' said Jean-François Fallacher, CEO of Eutelsat.
The capital raise comes at a time of heightened activity in the satellite internet space, especially in India. OneWeb, now part of the Eutelsat Group, has received a licence from the Indian government to launch satellite internet services. However, the roll-out remains on hold as the department of telecommunications is yet to allocate spectrum for such services.
The Bharti investment follows closely on the heels of Bharti Airtel's recent partnership announcement with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink's satellite broadband service to India. The move indicates that the group is hedging its bets across both GEO and LEO satellite service providers in anticipation of rising demand for rural and remote internet access.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Trump to meet NATO secretary general as plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sales
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is set to meet President Donald Trump this week on the heels of the US leader announcing plans to sell NATO allies weaponry that it can then pass on to Ukraine . NATO in a statement said Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and would meet with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth as well as Congress. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the visit. The visit comes as Trump last week teased that he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday and as Ukraine struggles to repel massive and complex air assaults launched by Russian forces. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like I lost my wife, now my son is in danger, please help him! Donate For Health Donate Now Undo Rubio said Friday that some of the US-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the US, he said. "It's a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a (US) factory and get it there," Rubio told reporters last week during visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Live Events French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu in an interview published Sunday in La Tribune Dimanche said that European officials have been making the case to the Trump administration to bolster air defense capabilities with any coming packages. He added that France is in a "capacity hole" and will have to wait until next year before being able to provide Ukraine new ground-air missiles. Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats as well as European allies to support legislation in the Senate that aims to cripple Russia's oil industry and hit Moscow with US sanctions for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The legislation, in part, calls for a 500 per cent tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It would have an enormous impact on economic behemoths China and India, which account for roughly 70 per cent of Russia's energy trade. That revenue is critical in helping keep the Russian war machine humming as the US and Europe have imposed significant import and export bans on a wide range of goods to and from Russia, affecting sectors like finance, energy, transport, technology, and defence. Trump for months had threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against Russia's oil industry. But the Republican leader has become increasingly exasperated with Putin in recent days and has laid into the Russian leader for prolonging the war. "We get a lot of bull -- thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth," Trump said last week in an exchange with reporters. "He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Congress has been prepared to act on the legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, for some time. The bill has overwhelming support in the Senate, but Republican leadership has been waiting for Trump to give the green light before moving ahead with it. The White House had expressed some reservations about the legislation. Trump made clear he wants full authority over the waiver process to lift the sanctions, tariffs or other penalties, without having to cede control to Congress. Under the initial bill, the president "may terminate" the penalties under certain circumstances, but immediately reimpose them if the violations resume. Graham has said the president would be allowed to waive the sanctions, for 180 days, and could also renew a waiver.
India.com
3 hours ago
- India.com
Anil Ambani unveils masterplan to rule the skies, to invest Rs 100000000000 for development of...
Anil Ambani (File) In yet another significant business move, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence has announced a Rs 10,000 crore investment in the aerospace manufacturing sector to fund its ambitious project of launching the first 'Made in India' commercial aircraft by 2028. The Reliance Group company has partnered with French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation to manufacture the Falcon 2000 LXS Business Executive Jets in India for the global market. This will mark the first instance when Dassault will build the Falcon 2000 jets outside France What is the Reliance-Dassault deal? According to official details, Reliance Defence, a subsidiary of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure, has partnered with Dassault Aviation to manufacture the Falcon 2000 LXS Business Executive Jets in India for the global market. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Aerostructure and Dassault Aviation launched DRAL as a joint venture in 2017, and established a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Mihan, Nagpur, marking the start of operations. Since 2017, DRAL has constructed more than 100 key subsections for the Falcon 2000 since delivering its first Falcon 2000 front section in 2019, demonstrating its superior precision manufacturing skills and contributing significantly to the Falcon global production program. As per an official release, DRAL is expected to recruit several hundred engineers and technicians over the next decade to support its expanding operations. 'This growth underscores Dassault Aviation's deep commitment to strengthening India's aerospace manufacturing ecosystem and advancing the nation's emergence as a global center of excellence for high-precision aviation production.' How Anil Ambani plans to make India an aerospace manufacturing hub? Dassault Aviation– primarily known for its Rafale fighter jets which are operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF)– termed the agreement with Reliance Aerostructure Limited (RAL), another subsidiary of Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, as an 'epic moment' for India, who will join an elite club of countries that manufacture next-generation business jets, including the United States, France, Canada and Brazil. According to experts, the Reliance-Dassault deal would established India as a major player in the global aerospace manufacturing industry. In a statement, Reliance Defence MD and CEO Rajesh Dhingra said the company aims to transform India into a major aerospace manufacturing hub in the next five years. Commenting on the deal, Anil Ambani asserted that the collaboration reflects the Reliance Group's commitment 'to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self Reliant India)' and 'Make in India for the World'.' 'Our partnership with Dassault Aviation for manufacturing of Falcon Business Jets in India is a defining moment for the country, Aviation Industry and the Reliance Group. This will help position India as a key force in the global aerospace value chain,' the Reliance Group Chairman said.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
7 hours ago
- Business Standard
Worldline turmoil hands Swiss bourse a $300 mn blow on strategic stake
Romeo Lacher was full of ideas when he sold the payment services division of Switzerland's stock exchange SIX Group AG to French firm Worldline SA in 2018. The 2.75 billion Swiss franc ($3.5 billion) deal gave SIX a 27 per cent stake in Worldline and would provide SIX with an 'extreme' amount of firepower to participate in Europe's consolidating market infrastructure sector, Lacher, then chairman of SIX, said at the time. He later held the same position at Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group Ltd., before exiting earlier this year. Worldline has denied the allegations and its chief executive officer has decried the media reports, calling them outdated and part of an orchestrated media campaign against the firm. The bourse's current stake of roughly 10 per cent in Worldline was valued in its accounts at just under €400 million ($467 million) at the end of 2024. That was already at a premium to its €250 million market value, which has fallen further this year to around €110 million. SIX is now reviewing potential actions for the shareholding, according to people familiar with the matter, including carrying out a test to determine if further impairment is required. The wait-and-see approach is not an option anymore, said one of the people, who all asked not to be identified discussing private information. SIX already booked an impairment on its Worldline stake of around 860 million Swiss francs for the fourth quarter of 2023 linked to a cut to the company's outlook and the scrapping of its revenue target. The exchange also adjusted its 2024 net profit to account for another 168 million Swiss francs impairment on the stake. SIX's largest shareholder is UBS Group AG, with a roughly 35 per cent stake. Representatives for UBS, Worldline and SIX declined to comment. Lacher didn't respond to a request for comment. 'Strategic' holding Daniel Schmucki, SIX's chief financial officer and a former aviation industry executive, has sat on Worldline's board for the past five years, a period in which the exchange has repeatedly described its holding in Worldline as 'strategic.' Worldline shares dropped 38 per cent on June 25 after media outlets published reports that the firm had ignored warnings from regulators and continued doing business with risky clients with high fraud rates, including pornographers and dating websites. The repeated impairments put the bourse at a disadvantage to peers in an industry that has been using major acquisitions to grow and consolidate and is searching for new revenue streams coming from data and private markets. It's a far cry from 2020, when SIX sold a chunk of its original 27 per cent stake in Worldline to finance the acquisition of the operator of Spain's stock exchange. But since then, SIX has turned down opportunities to reduce its remaining Worldline stake, the people said. Worldline has hired an external firm to go through its portfolio of risky clients as the payments firm seeks to restore trust, Chairman Wilfried Verstraete told the newspaper Les Echos. SIX is set to publish second-quarter earnings at the end of July.
