Viasat completes acquisition of EBI
April 30, 2021
Viasat, a global communications company, has completed the purchase of Euro Broadband Infrastructure (EBI), the wholesale broadband services business created as part of Viasat’s former partnering arrangement with Eutelsat Communications.
By purchasing the remaining 51 per cent share of EBI from Eutelsat, Viasat gained 100 per cent ownership of the KA-SAT satellite and related ground infrastructure, which provides satellite coverage over Europe and the Mediterranean region. With complete ownership of these assets, Viasat can continue to diversify its business portfolio in Europe, while establishing operations, distribution and sales for its growing retail, enterprise, mobility and government businesses—ahead of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)-focused ViaSat-3 satellite.
“With the EBI purchase now complete, we can more aggressively move forward with growing our European broadband business and introduce new service offerings—before the launch of our ViaSat-3 EMEA satellite,” said Rick Baldridge, Viasat’s president and chief executive officer. “This deal provides a foundation for growth and an investment in the European region in addition to Africa and the Middle East. We can now set in motion our multi-tiered partner and distribution strategy, while trialling new ‘ViaSat-3 like’ home internet plans and new mobility offerings that best consider the needs and requirements of the local market dynamics as well as consumer and enterprise appetites for broadband.”
The transaction was initially announced on November 19th 2020.