spacetoday.net: Intelsat to acquire PanAmSat

Posted: Mon, Aug 29, 2005, 7:28 AM ET (1128 GMT)
Intelsat announced early Monday that it has reached an agreement to acquire rival communications satellite operator PanAmSat for $3.2 billion. Under the agreement, Intelsat will pay $25/share for PanAmSat, a 25% premium over the price of the stock at the close of trading Friday. Intelsat will also assume an additional $3.2 billion in PanAmSat debt. Intelsat said it has received commitments for the full purchase price from a number of financial institutions, and expects the deal to close in six to 12 months. The acquisition is the first sign of a long-awaited consolidation of the commercial communications satellite industry, which has experienced a wave of private equity buyouts in recent years, and has also struggled to deal with overcapacity in the market in general. Earlier this month Intelsat was reported to be in talks to acquire another satellite operator, New Skies, a deal superceded by the PanAmSat merger.