Harbinger dumps Inmarsat plan
February 8, 2011
By Chris Forrester
US-based hedge fund Harbinger Capital will sell down its entire holdings in London-based Inmarsat. Harbinger, controlled by Philip Falcone, held 14 per cent of Inmarsat, about 64.3 million shares. Inmarsat had long been thought of as a takeover target for Harbinger, where it once held 28 per cent of the company.
Harbinger sold down half of its Inmarsat stake last year raising around £410 million ($650m) in the process, and selling at 630p/share. Inmarsat has been currently trading at about 688p/share. The actual price achieved will emerge February 9th.
Falcone is instead concentrating on US speciality wireless business LightSquared, which now represents 40 per cent of Harbinger’s investments. However, Mr Falcone is also under investigation for taking loans from Harbinger to pay his personal tax bills.
Harbinger/LightSquared will continue a relationship with Inmarsat given that Inmarsat has a deal in place to supply capacity to LightSquared.