Inmarsat buyer plans London HQ in bid to ease security fears
A US satellite company which offered to buy Britain’s Inmarsat for $7.3bn (£5.5bn) could set up an international headquarters in London to appease national security regulators.
Viasat is in ongoing discussions with UK ministers after it announced plans to purchase Inmarsat through a merger which would create one of the world’s largest satellite operators, the Telegraph first reported.
In efforts to assuage national security concerns Viasat, which is headquartered in the US, will reportedly set up a global mobility division in London and could extend Inmarsat’s pledges to work with the Ministry of Defence, made when the company was bought in 2019.
The concessions could prevent ministers from referring the deal to the competition and markets authority for investigation. The government is concerned that Britain is lagging behind in the global space race as competition heats up.
Viasat intends to integrate the spectrum, satellite and terrestrial capabilities of both companies into a global high-capacity hybrid space and terrestrial network.
Commenting on the takeover Viasat’s executive chairman Mark Dankberg said, “this is a transformative combination that advances our common ambitions to connect the world. The unique fusion of teams, technologies and resources provides the ingredients and scale needed for profitable growth through the creation and delivery of innovative broadband and IoT services in new and existing fast-growing segments and geographies.”
The purchase will comprise of $850m in cash, approximately 46.36m shares of Viasat common stock valued at $3.1bn and the assumption of $3.4bn of net debt.
Read more: UK satellite company Inmarsat agrees £5.4bn takeover by U.S. rival Viasat