Advanced Television

Measat wants bankrupt NewSat?

June 2, 2015

By Chris Forrester

Satellite start-up business NewSat of Australia is in bankruptcy, and two of the consequences are that a satellite (Jabiru-1) being built for it by Lockheed Martin is not needed, and the US/French export credit bank is facing a loss of around $100 million.

A bankruptcy court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, has been told that the failing business was on the brink of being sold of Malaysia’s Measat satellite operator. The NewSat lawyer, Ken Coleman, told the court that NewSat still has contracts with existing customers and continues to move forward on plans to get out of its financial difficulties.  Coleman is quoted by Dow Jones as saying that while NewSat was trying to put together a deal to prevent the Lockheed Martin contract from being terminated, “NewSat was working with a long-time business ally, Measat Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd”.

NewSat is now working under Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection. Australian sources say Measat might be responsible for restructuring of NewSat. 

Categories: Articles, Business, DTH/Satellite, M&A