LONDON/PARIS, July 24 (Reuters) – French satellite operator Eutelsat ETL.PA is set to take control of its British competitor OneWeb in a deal likely to be announced on Monday, it said. -we learned on Sunday from two sources close to the discussions.
This merger would strengthen Eutelsat and OneWeb in the race to develop a network of low orbit satellites against competitors such as Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Eutelsat is already the second largest shareholder of OneWeb, behind the Indian Bharti Global, with a 23% stake in the capital. The French operator declined to comment on this information.
If the operation is successful, the British State would become a minority shareholder in the whole after saving OneWeb from bankruptcy with Bharti in July 2020, one of the sources said.
(Report Elizabeth Piper in London and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris, French version Bertrand Boucey)