Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE), a major supplier of in-flight entertainment and broadband connectivity to aircraft, is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reconstruction. It entered bankruptcy on July 22nd 2020 and has subsequently struck an agreement with a number of new investors whereby a consortium will acquire almost all of GEE for $675 million.

The buying consortium includes Apollo Global Management, Eaton Vance Management, Arbour Lane Capital Management, Sound Point Capital Management, Mudrick Capital Management, and certain funds and accounts under management by BlackRock Financial Management.

SES, in a filing to the bankruptcy court on January 19th, says it is not objecting to the sale of assets but it is concerned about a transponder purchase agreement signed by GEE back in March 2019 for 8 satellite transponders (on its AMC-1 satellite) and a portion of an overall payment of $8.5 million which has not been paid. Some $3.36 million is outstanding.

SES is asking the court to enter an order that protects SES (and O3b’s) claim.

Also objecting is America’s tax collector, the IRS, which on January 19th gave the court a list of unpaid tax obligations, and telling the court that Global Eagle had failed to file numerous Federal tax returns.

The court has a batch of motions under consideration for a hearing on January 29th including GEE’s Plan of Reorganisation filed into the court on December 14th 2020.

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. Virgin Galactic in stock split
2. Thuraya-3 suffers major problem
3. AST SpaceMobile hit by Class Action
4. Optimism under threat at SES
5. Rivada visits Terran Orbital’s manufacturing HQ
6. Avanti wins spectrum debt obligation case
7. SpaceX breaks records for re-use launchers
8. IRIS2 already in trouble?
9. Intelsat contemplates next steps

Categories: Blogs, Business, Inside Satellite, Satellite

Tags: GEE, O3B, SES