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Telesat ponders IPO again

November 13, 2015

By Chris Forrester

Telesat of Canada is reportedly again trying to persuade its shareholders to agree to mounting an IPO.  This is by no means the first time that a potential IPO has been talked about but other attempts have failed to secure the mutual agreement of Telesat’s two major investors.

A November 9th SEC filing saw shareholder Loral Space & Communications say that it wanted to exercise its rights to “force” an IPO which would see a minimum of 25 million new shares issued. However, its fellow shareholder is Canadian pension fund PSP Investments, and Loral admits that it would need a modified shareholder agreement to be struck in order to proceed.

Telesat’s ownership is complex. Loral holds a 62.8 per cent economic stake in Telesat but only 32.7 per cent of the Voting Rights.  In a ‘mirror’ corporate structure, PSP holds the majority Voting Rights, but the minority economic interest.

The November 9th SEC statement from Loral added: “If we are unable to reach agreement with PSP on these matters, the advice of the lead underwriter selected for the Telesat IPO will be sought to assist resolution.”

Categories: Articles, Business, IPO