IntelSat Purchased by BC Partners

The UK-based private equity firm BC Partners has purchased 76 percent of Intelsat, Ltd., the world’s largest commercial satellite operator, for $5.03 billion US dollars.

BC Partners, which has its business focus in Europe, will also take on Intelsat’s debt load of $11 billion and a further $3.9 billion US dollars in debt. The firm received $5 billion in financing commitments from Credit Suisse, which advised Intelsat on the transaction, Banc of America Securities and Morgan Stanley. Merrill Lynch and Perella Weinberg advised BC Partners during the acquisition, the largest in BC Partners’ history.

Earlier reports said six firms, including EchoStar Communications Corp., were reported to be interested in acquiring Intelsat.

Other bidders for Intelsat are said to have included the Carlyle Group, Providence Equity Partners and Australia’s Macquarie Bank, Ltd. The Blackstone Group LP, which reportedly offered $6 billion to buy Intelsat last April and triggered the current bidding war, failed to submit a formal bid.

Intelsat will remain focused on serving its global customer base in the media, network services and government sectors. Intelsat’s customers include the US military, US TV networks ABC and CBS, France Telecom and News Corp.

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Written by Jim Taylor on June 22nd, 2007 with no comments.
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