EU: SoftBank-backed satellite merger falls apart

Efforts by SoftBank to forge consolidation in the space technology industry suffered a setback on Thursday with the collapse of a proposed merger between OneWeb and Intelsat, two satellite businesses, due to opposition from bondholders.

The Japanese internet and telecoms company revealed in February it would invest $1.7bn under the plan for the merger between OneWeb, a US satellite start-up, and Intelsat, a Luxembourg-based rival.

However, the deal — in which SoftBank expected to take a near 40 per cent voting stake in the combined group — was conditional on Intelsat’s bond investors accepting a debt swap under which they would receive less than full face value for their existing holdings.

The collapse of Softbank’s satellite plan comes only months after it outlined proposals for a $100bn technology investment fund to be managed by the Japanese company, and the completion of its £24bn takeover of Arm Holdings, the UK chip designer.

Full Content: Reuters

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