Canadian satellite firm Telesat Holdings Inc hired three financial advisers to help sell the company for between US$6 billion and US$7 billion, said three people with knowledge of the matter.
Closely held Telesat brought in JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse Group AG on Wednesday to start a formal sales process and offer so-called staple financing to interested buyers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
While an auction hasn’t officially begun, Ottawa-based Telesat has been approached by Intelsat SA, the people said. Intelsat, owned by private-equity funds BC Partners Ltd and Silver Lake, has hired Bank of America Corp as an adviser and may name others to pursue a bid, one of the people said.
Telesat is co-owned by New York-based Loral Space & Communications Inc and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board. Telesat calls itself the world’s fourth-largest satellite company.
INTELSAT POSSIBILITY
A purchase by Intelsat would create “by far the largest telecommunication-services provider” in the world, said Marco Caceres, a satellite-market analyst at consultant Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia. Intelsat has a “large fleet of satellites and may be looking to buy orbital slots owned by Telesat,” he said.
The sale may fetch 8.5 times to 9.5 times Telesat’s projected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about US$700 million next year, said one of the people. Telesat is being advised by JPMorgan, while Loral, a designer and maker of satellites, is working with Credit Suisse and the pension fund is being represented by Morgan Stanley.
Loral owns 64 percent of Telesat and has 33 percent of the voting rights. The Canadian pension board owns the remaining 36 percent and has majority voting control. They agreed to buy Telesat in late 2006 for C$3.25 billion (US$3.19 billion) and merged Loral’s satellite business into Telesat.
PROSPECTIVE BUYERS
Many of the prospective buyers for Telesat are from outside Canada, raising the possibility of official opposition. On Nov. 3, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government blocked a US$40 billion bid by Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc, the world’s largest fertilizer company.
Canada lifted restrictions on foreign ownership of domestic satellite companies in July, implementing a measure included in Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s March budget.
Under the Investment Canada Act, the government can block any transaction valued at C$299 million or more if it finds the deal doesn’t provide a “net benefit” to the country.
After Canada blocked BHP’s bid for Potash, Harper said his government would give more clarity on foreign ownership restrictions. Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement, who is responsible for any review, said Tuesday that the guidelines will be issued before year-end. Clement declined to comment on the implications of a possible transaction involving Telesat.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
ROUGH RECORDS: Bonds in Japan, as well is in New Zealand, Australia and the US, are seeing the effects of a nervy market as stock exchanges across Asia edge down A deepening slump in Japanese government bonds added fuel to the selloff in global debt markets as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears and pushed yields to multi-decade highs. Japan’s 30-year yield yesterday surged as much as 20 basis points to the highest level since the tenor’s debut in 1999, before paring some of the move. Shorter-maturity Japanese debt was also under pressure, underscored by weak demand at a sale of five-year notes that offered a record-high coupon of 2 percent. Concerns over inflation and government spending rippling through markets including the US, Australia and New Zealand are being amplified in Japan,
The US has cleared about 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia Corp’s second-most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the H200, but not a single delivery has been made so far, three people familiar with the matter said, leaving a major technology deal in limbo as chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) seeks a breakthrough in China this week. Huang, who was not initially listed in a White House delegation to Beijing, joined the trip after an invitation from US President Donald Trump, a source said. Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Wall Street is licking its chops over an unprecedented slate of massive initial public offerings (IPOs) set to arrive in the coming months, beginning with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) next month. That is expected to be followed by artificial intelligence (AI) rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The trio of mega listings, each eyeing valuations around US$1 trillion or more, constitutes a heady period of elevated risk and reward. SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would raise up to US$80 billion — about double the funds generated from all IPOs last year. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing IPOs raising US$60 billion. “We’re
RSS