The French government will more than double its stake in debt-laden satellite operator Eutelsat, in a state-led €1.35bn capital raising that will see Paris strengthen its hold on OneWeb, Europe’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The move comes the day after the French military agreed a 10-year deal to buy satellite communications services from OneWeb, which like Starlink delivers connectivity to business and government from the increasingly strategic region of low earth orbit. Although the value of the agreement was not disclosed, the news sent the company’s shares up more than 14 per cent on Thursday.
The capital raise, which will see the French state increase its stake from 13.6 per cent to almost 30 per cent in return for a total injection of about €717mn, risks leaving the UK little more than a bit-part player in a company it rescued from bankruptcy as part of a $1bn buyout with India’s Bharti group in 2020. The UK’s 11 per cent stake in Eutelsat — the result of the decision to sell OneWeb to the French company in 2023 — will fall to 7.9 per cent.