LONDON: A private equity-led consortium agreed to buy Inmarsat Plc for about $3.4 billion in cash after the British satellite operator last year rebuffed a slightly lower bid from US rival EchoStar.
The consortium includes UK-based Apax Partners, US-based Warburg Pincus and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.
Inmarsat shareholders will get $7.21 cash, or 546 pence per share.
A takeover of the company could be closely scrutinised by the British authorities because of Inmarsat’s position as a strategic asset.
The company was the first international satellite operator to be privatised, and Apax was part of the group that invested in 2003, before taking it public two years later.
The offer comprises cash of $7.09 for each share plus a previously agreed final dividend of $0.12 per share, representing a nearly 45 per cent premium to Inmarsat’s close on February 27, a day before media reports said EchoStar was expected to renew its interest in the company. — Reuters
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