Inmarsat £5.4bn takeover by US rival given okay

HOLLY WILLIAMS

THE £5.4bn takeover of UK satellite giant Inmarsat by US firm Viasat has been given the provisional green light by Britain’s competition watchdog as it said the merged firm would be “challenged” in the rapidly expanding sector.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that, while the companies compete closely in the aviation sector – specifically in the supply of satellite connections for onboard wifi – the deal does not substantially reduce competition for services provided on flights used by UK customers.

Yesterday the firm launched a formal sales process and said it would invite bids from potential interested suitors. While Purplebricks had a lot of success in its early years, disrupting an old industry, it has since fallen on tougher times. Shares, which were selling for around £5 each in 2017, would now set you back less than eight pence.

Following a four-month in-depth phase of the probe, the CMA said the combined firm would be “challenged” by the likes of SpaceX’s new competitor Starlink, as well as established firms such as Intelsat and Panasonic, in the coming years.

The satellite sector has seen a wave of investment and acquisitional activity in recent years as ventures backed by Elon Musk and Amazon have pushed forward in the race to build a constellation of low-orbit satellites.