Inmarsat deal still under High Court threat
December 2, 2019
By Chris Forrester
Back on November 6th, it was reported that Inmarsat faces a Court action that threatens the $6 billion take-over by a consortium headed by Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus. That Court action is still in place and has forced a delay to the originally-planned November 29th approval date.
Some minority shareholders are arguing that the recommended offer fails to account for the potential value of a key Inmarsat partner in the US, Ligardo.
Ligardo is the follow-on company of the failed LightSquared which wanted to build a wireless broadband service. LightSquared went bust following the US communications regulator saying that its services could interfere with GPS signals widely used by the farming industry in the US.
The action has been brought by Oaktree Capital (2.85 per cent shareholder), Rubric Capital (2.2 per cent holding) and Kite Lake Capital (3.8 per cent). However, it is argued that many of these stakes are held via non-voting options. The total actually held in Inmarsat is about 4.4 per cent.
The objectors will urge the High Court not to approve the routine finalisation of the deal, which was scheduled last Friday November 29 but is now set to be heard at the London High Court on December 3rd and 4th.