Luxembourg Satellite Firm to Acquire GE Unit for $5 Billion in Cash, Stock
March 27, 2001
By ANDY PASZTOR, NIKHIL DEOGUN and MATT MURRAY
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
interactive.wsj.com
Societe Europeenne des Satellites SA of Luxembourg, long unable to
penetrate the U.S. satellite market on its own, is wrapping up a deal to
acquire General Electric Co.'s satellite-services unit for $5 billion in cash
and stock, according to people familiar with the situation.
While the boards of GE and SES had approved a deal in principle,
lawyers for the two sides were continuing to negotiate last-minute details.
As a result, people familiar with the discussions warned that some sticking
points could delay or even unravel the agreement.
But given that the two sides have resolved the major issues, including price
and structure, a deal should be announced within a week, these people
said.
For SES, already a leading European satellite broadcaster with expanding
footholds in both Asia and Latin America, the proposed transaction
provides two things it has long sought: It would snare an established
platform in the U.S. from which to pursue the mushrooming
Internet-access and data-transmission segments of the business.
And under the terms being finalized, SES plans to list the merged company
in the U.S. through a public offering around the time the deal closes.
Boards of the two companies have approved the proposed transaction,
according to these people, and the Luxembourg government, which owns
20% of SES, indicated Monday that an agreement was in place.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com, Nikhil Deogun at
nik.deogun@wsj.com and Matt Murray at matt.murray@wsj.com |
