SES vs. Intelsat: Trial adjourned
June 3, 2021
By Chris Forrester
A hearing at the Intelsat Chapter 11 bankruptcy court adjourned the claim and related trial of the SES action against Intelsat over C-band payments until a date to be agreed in September or October.
A very brief hearing in front of Judge Keith Phillips heard that the two parties had met and that a consent order would be placed before the court outlining the agreement to the new date when witnesses can attend the court in person.
However, a co-counsel lawyer for SES, Orin Snyder (of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP), told the court that the SES claim for $420 million was the largest against Intelsat. “However, when we win this claim it would be a pyrrhic victory if Intelsat had simply protected and moved its assets to other Intelsat entities.”
Snyder told the court that the SES claim against Intelsat was “overwhelmingly meritorious” and that SES believed Intelsat was engaged in a “shell game” as regards its current and expected assets, and in particular the $5 billion which would flow from the FCC in respect to the C-band auction of spectrum. Consequently, he wanted the court to be very aware that the SES claim was against all the Intelsat entities involved in the Chapter 11.