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To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (5405)	2/26/1999 9:10:00 PM
From: djane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10852

Inmarsat eyes strategic investor. Heading into IPO, satellite group wants to launch more birds cbs.marketwatch.com By Emily Church, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 12:18 PM ET Feb 25, 1999 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Of all the players racing to deliver more data speed, here comes the dark horse: Inmarsat -- the satellite group best known for routing SOS calls from ships. The internationally owned co-operative, which is slated to be privatized on April 15, is looking to expand its data capacity seven fold after its privatization is complete. The company is also looking to bring in a strategic investor, said CFO Ramin Khadem. "We will be able to move forward in a way we haven't be able to do so in the past," said Khadem. Within two years, the group is planning on an Initial Public Offering in London and New York. Part of its privatization plan calls for the strategic investor or investors to come in at up to $500 million in exchange for a stake in Inmarsat. "They clearly need someone to come in, an outside investor to put their money down, to validate their business plan," said Armand Musey, satellite analyst analyst C.E. Underberg, Towbin. The partner is likely to be a satellite equipment maker or even a provider, Khadem told CBS.MarketWatch.com. Inmarsat hopes to add the four more "birds" to the nine it already has in orbit under an estimated $1 billion investment plan "The idea is that we would bring in a strategic investor who would be typically your providers of satellties, ground equipment or user terminals who would then have a stake in the business," Khadem said. Data mad world Inmarsat's some 140,000 mobile users around the world, operating from remote land regions or ships, have been uplinking with increasing frequency. "We see a tremendous increase in the data market," Khadem said. "That's where we have a strong presence on a global basis in the so-called mobile office." Data has been driving Inmarsat's growth. Data traffic grew some 60 percent last year, he said. "Today we provide the capability up to 64 kilobytes apart from voice and we're looking at extending that into the multimedia range, maybe up to to 400 kilobytes," he said. The project would require launching the next generation of Inmarsat satellites. Laptop-sized solution Beyond its SOS service -- which Inmarsat will continue free-of-charge -- the company plans to expand its data business, rolling out a small, laptop-sized terminal with an antenna attached, giving 64 KB of data capability later this year. But Khadem doesn't see Inmarsat leaving its mobile office niche and competing directly against the AT&T's (T) and MCI WorldCom's (MCIC). "We're not looking at meeting the needs of the fixed users at all because clearly our market is mobile," he said. "We can't compete with fixed providers because we've got satellites up there which are placed for global distribution and our costing would be different. "I think what will more than likely happen is that we will have a stronger marketing presence and work with our distributors around the world and be able to be more effective in marketing our product," he said IPO waters Inmarsat has landed in an IPO position after a wave of privatizations in the telecommunications industry left most of Inmarsat in private hands. Today's investors include Comsat (CQ) with an about 22 percent stake as well as British Telecom and Deutsche Telekom (DT), to name a few. Comsat is precluded from increasing its sake in Inmarsat, Comsat officials said. After April 15, "the shares of Inmarsat will be exchangeable within the club (shareholders) and on the first right of refusal, it could be sold outside of the club." A year after that, Khadem expects that Inmarsat shares will be freely exchangeable on a private basis. Emily Church is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch. © 1997-1999 MarketWatch.com, Inc. All rights reserved. Disclaimer. CBS and the CBS "eye device" are registered trademarks of CBS Inc.