Bharti Enterprises to invest Rs 313 cr in Eutelsat under fresh capital raise plan
Reuters The logo of the satellite operator Eutelsat
New Delhi: Bharti Enterprise's space venture will invest €31.4 million (about Rs 313 crore) as part of French satellite group Eutelsat's fresh €1.35 billion (around Rs 11,250 crore) capital raising plan, aimed at paring debt and investing in satellite constellations.
The French government will invest €526.4 million in Eutelsat and become the largest shareholder with a 29.99% stake, displacing Bharti Space, which will now own 18.7% stake in Eutelsat, the world's second largest satcom group and a chief rival to Elon Musk-owned Starlink.
Other investors include shipping major CMA CGM with €100.4 million, with sovereign investor FSP putting in €57.8 million.
'I am delighted that under the leadership of President Macron, the French state has decided to back Eutelsat as the European Space Champion and increased its shareholding by injecting a sizeable investment into the company,' Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder & Chairman, Bharti Enterprises & Co-Chairman Eutelsat Group. Post merger between Eutelsat and Bharti Enterprises and UK government backed-OneWeb in 2023, the Indian group became the largest shareholder in Eutelsat with a 21.2% share.
'We are also thrilled to welcome the French armed forces ministry, DGA, partnership with Eutelsat in a long term €1B contract to reserve capacity on Eutelsat's low-Earth orbit OneWeb constellation for its mission critical needs,' Mittal added.Earlier this week, Eutelsat signed a 10-year agreement with France's Ministry of the Armed Forces under the Nexus program. The deal, worth up to €1 billion ( ?9,999 crore), aims to integrate military and civilian satellite resources and strengthen European capabilities in secure space communications.The capital raise comes at a time of heightened activity in the satellite internet space, especially in India. Eutelsat OneWeb, a unit of the Eutelsat group, is poised to start commercial broadband-from-space service in India, having received all necessary statutory clearances, except for spectrum.Operating more than 600 satellites since merging with British firm OneWeb in 2023, Eutelsat is the world's second-largest operator of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. But it remains far smaller than Starlink, which has 6,000 satellites.
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