$5 billion Intelsat deal: Private equity goes into orbit

Tom Taulli — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:05:00 EST

As rumored for some time, the satellite operator, Intelsat Ltd., has been on sale. And, today we know who the new owner is: BC Partners, which is a top private equity firm.

The price tag? It's about $5 billion. Although if you add on the debt load (from a prior private equity deal), the amount comes to about $11.5 billion.

Interestingly enough, there were a variety of strategic parties that wanted to buy Intelsat, such as EchoStar Communications. Yet with dirt cheap debt markets, the private equity folks were able to put together higher bids.

Actually, it was back in 2004 that Intelsat entered a buyout deal - for about $3.1 billion. A year later, the firm purchased PanAmSat.

Basically, private equity firms like the rich cash flows of satellite companies. Also, the barriers to entry are considerable.

However the existing owners of Intelsat - which include Apax Partners, Apollo Management, Madison Dearborn Partners, Permira - will keep a minority stake. After all, in light of the growth in digital media and HD television, it's probably a good bet that Intelsat still has growth potential.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

$5 billion Intelsat deal: Private equity goes into orbit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Newspaper wrap-up 6-14-07: Sprint may hook up with Clearwire for WiMax

Eric Buscemi — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:05:00 EST

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Citigroup Inc. (C), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Sony Corp ADR (SNE)

MAJOR PAPERS:

The Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) is reviewing its options to finance the building of WiMax, a wireless broadband network; a hook-up with Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) is a possibility.
The word is out that Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) and EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) will make a joint bid for the satellite communications provider Intelsat, Ltd, possibly somewhere in the $4.5B-$5.5B range, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Financial Times reported that Congress removed blocks on arms transfer requests by U.K. weapons manufacturer BAE Systems plc (OTC: BAESY), acting after BAE assured them that the transfer requests were unrelated to a defunct British investigation into bribery allegations involving Saudi Arabia and BAE.
According to Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader," Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is climbing its way back to electronic prominence, but more work remains, and it may be time to take profits.

WEBSITES:

LiveMint.com reported that Citigroup Inc's (NYSE: C) emerging markets private-equity investment arm, Citigroup Venture Capital International, will reportedly invest $1.5B in India over the next three years, the largest investment by a single private-equity investor in the Indian markets.

Newspaper wrap-up 6-14-07: Sprint may hook up with Clearwire for WiMax originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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