Intelsat has abandoned its proposed merger with OneWeb after failing to gain approval from its debtholders. After several extensions of the debt exchange offer first announced in late February, Intelsat concluded at the latest expiry of the offer on 31 May that it would not obtain approval from enough of the bondholders.
As a result the company said it expects to terminate the agreement with OneWeb, including the plan for OneWeb shareholder Softbank to inject fresh capital in the merged company. In a statement, Intelsat said it was disappointed the deal would not go ahead, but it would continue its existing commercial cooperation with OneWeb and Softbank.
Intelsat is already an investor in OneWeb, which is developing a network of low-earth-orbit satellites to extend internet access around the world. Intelsat said its operational focus will remain the same, including the development of its own EpicNG fleet of next-generation, high-throughput satellites.
