SES ends talks on merger with Intelsat

Satellite operator SES has announced today that discussions regarding a possible merger with rival company Intelsat have come to an end.

The news comes three months after SES confirmed that the pair were engaged in talks regarding a possible merge of the two companies. The companies said that there could be no certainty that a transaction would materialise.

The merger of the Luxembourg-based companies would have created a satellite industry behemoth valued at over US$10 billion including debt, generating around US$4 billion in revenues.

US trade Bloomberg first reported of talks of a possible combination between SES and Intelsat . According to Bloomberg, SES was aiming to reach an agreement with Intelsat within a few weeks.

SES and Intelsat are both traditional geostationary Earth orbit satellite providers with legacy video businesses but have decided to invest in medium Earth orbit (MEO) constellations to deliver an expected upsurge in demand for satellite-enabled data communications rather than go down the more capital-intensive LEO route.

Both companies are also the major beneficiaries of the clearing of C-band spectrum in the US, which if combined would have net the pair a combined total of around US$9 billion.