OneWeb auction generates extra Chinese interest
June 15, 2020
By Chris Forrester
Would-be mega-constellation operator OneWeb, now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has a key date looming; June 26th is a deadline for final bids to be entered for either the whole business or parts of the company.
The bankruptcy is being handled by a court in New York and, according to Space Intel Report (SIR), the original two Chinese companies to have expressed an interest has grown to four.
SIR says that the initial tyre-kicking from the likes of SpaceX and Amazon has faded while a Eutelsat/French-backed bid has failed to win support from outside France. There is still interest from UK and US parties. UK regulator Ofcom, for example, is the licensing authority for OneWeb. The UK military is said to be interested.
The rules of the bankruptcy are that unless successful bids are entered by June 26th then OneWeb will have an auction of assets on July 2nd. The auction is obliged to take the “highest or best bid” for the assets which will be sold free and clear of encumbrances.
Interested bidders have to pay a 10 per cent deposit of its bid’s value.