The various objectors to the $3.4 billion sale of London-based Inmarsat to a consortium led by Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board withdrew their objections in a last-minute High Court reversal of their position on December 3rd.

Inmarsat announced that “contesting shareholders” were no longer objecting to the sale of Inmarsat to the consortium.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the hedge funds said: “Having considered our position carefully, we now no longer intend to raise objections to the scheme being sanctioned at the hearing.”

The three “contesting shareholders” were hedge funds seeking a higher value return from the incoming buyers and arguing that the sale price of Inmarsat did not adequately reflect the value of a contract in place with Ligado Networks.  Their statements to the Court said that the Ligado contract was worth an extra $300 million, and thus not reflected in the sale to the acquiring consortium.

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