The European Commission has given unconditional approval to the agreement between satellite operators SES and Intelsat, which paves the way for closing the deal at a cost 4 billions of dollars. Now the main regulatory obstacle remains only the USA.
In his decision from 9 In June, the European Commission announced, that after the merger the company will face a sufficient level of competition in the market — both from land-based alternatives, such as fiber optic networks for media services, as well as from the operators of low-orbit satellites, including SpaceX Starlink, in the field of satellite Internet.
Earlier, in May, UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also gave unconditional approval, focusing on the satellite Internet market for air transport (inflight connectivity, IFC). The regulator came to a conclusion, that the combined company would face "significant competitive pressure" from integrated players, including Starlink, Viasat-Inmarsat, as well as the newcomer to the market — Amazon Kuiper.
According to the CMA, in 2024 In 2015, the leading suppliers of IFC in terms of the number of connected aircraft were:
- Viasat (30-40% of the market),
- Intelsat (20–30%)
- Panasonic (20–30%).
However, Starlink and Viasat have the largest order books for systems not yet installed, at 50-60% and 40-50% respectively. This indicates a change of market leaders in the near future.
Expected, that the sharp increase in satellite bandwidth and the decrease in service prices will create even tougher competition.
Further steps
Although both companies are legally based in Luxembourg, Intelsat's main operational capabilities are located in the US. That is why the decision of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the US Department of Justice remain key to finalizing the deal.
SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said, that the company expects to close the deal in the second half 2025 year. We will remind, that the boards of directors of SES and Intelsat unanimously approved the merger in April 2024 year, and Intelsat shareholders approved the deal 5 June.
The amount of the deal will be 3,5 billion euros, of which 3 billions is the monetary part, and will 531 million euros — contingent payments, tied to the possible monetization of Intelsat's C-band spectrum.
Source: https://spacenews.com/europe-clears-ses-intelsat-deal-without-conditions/