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Eutelsat Communications (OTC:) SA has completed its all-share combination with OneWeb, forming the Eutelsat Group. The merger was approved at an extraordinary general meeting of Eutelsat shareholders on Thursday, September 28, 2023. The approval led to a $3.4 billion (£2.94 bn) merger deal with OneWeb, setting the new entity up to compete with major satellite providers like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon (NASDAQ:).
With headquarters in Paris, the merged entity will continue to operate under the name Eutelsat Group. Bharti Enterprises has emerged as the largest shareholder in the group, commanding a 21.2% stake. The company has expressed its commitment to being a long-term strategic investor in the Eutelsat Group.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairperson of Bharti, will serve as the co-chair of the newly formed entity. His son, Shravin Bharti Mittal, who led the OneWeb investment and helped it emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will represent Bharti as a Director on the Board of Eutelsat. Akhil Gupta will maintain his position as a Director on the Board of OneWeb.
OneWeb will continue to operate commercially as Eutelsat OneWeb, with its center of operations remaining in London. The company plans to roll out its services in India later this year. Sunil Bharti Mittal expressed excitement about expanding services into India and other countries in the global south to provide broadband connectivity to underserved regions.
The Eutelsat Group remains listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange and has applied for standard listing on the London Stock Exchange. The merger marks a significant shift for Eutelsat towards telecoms and high-speed connections via low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which are crucial for providing connectivity to isolated regions.
The newly formed entity is set to rival some of the biggest names in the satellite industry. Starlink, for instance, has already garnered over two million clients and has nearly 3,600 satellites in orbit. Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos is planning to deploy more than 3,200 satellites for his Kuiper constellation. China is also a significant player in the race, deploying its Guowang fleet of 13,000 satellites.
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