EQT was to have paid £550m for Eutelsat’s ground-based antenna but the French government feared the sale would inhibit its ability to compete against Musk’s Starlink
Bllomberg reports that the French government has scuppered Eutelsat’s plan to sell its ground antenna to private equity firm EQT for €550 million The intervention is because the French government feared it would disadvantage Europe’s ability to compete against Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The French government owns the biggest stake in Eutelsat’s with 29.6%.
“I decided to not allow Eutelsat, a big French satellite company, to sell its ground-based antenna that communicate with satellites,” French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on the French commercial channel TF1, cited by Bloomberg. “These antenna are used for civil communication and military communication. Eutelsat is the only European competitor to Starlink, it’s obviously a strategic asset, so I said no.”
Last August, EQT Infrastructure agreed to acquire a majority stake in Eutelsat’s Ground Station Infrastructure Business through a newly created portfolio company, SatPort Infrastructure. As part of the transaction, Eutelsat had agreed to reinvest to own 20% of SatPort Infrastructure.
