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Abertis Bid Could Impact Hispasat, Eutelsat
Hispasat is moving to reinforce its Amazonas transatlantic spacecraft fleet and Hisdesat secure communications satellite business in spite of a planned leverage buyout that could see one of its largest blocks of shares shift to new owners.
The Spanish satcom operator last week selected Space Systems/Loral to build Amazonas-3, a big new C-/Ku-band satellite intended to replace the Amazonas-1 and provide additional growth capacity at the 61 deg. W. Long. Amazonas orbital slot. It is due to be orbited in 2012 by an unnamed launch provider.
Together with Amazonas-2, launched in September 2009, the new spacecraft will give Hispamar, the joint venture of Hispasat and Brazilian telecom operator Oi (formerly Telemar) that operates the Amazonas fleet, one of the biggest, most advanced broadcasting/telecom satellite capabilities in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world.
Based on SS/L’s 1300 bus and capable of operating 33 Ku- and 19 C-band transponders in both hemispheres simultaneously, Amazonas-3 will have a launch mass of 5 metric tons and produce nearly 14 kw. of power at end of life. It will be co-located at 61 deg. W. Long. with Amazonas-2, which is equipped with a 54 Ku-band transponder payload and 10 C-band transponders. Once the new satellite is in orbit, Amazonas-1 may be relocated.
The order was the fourth of the year for SS/L. Both Amazonas-1 and -2 were built by EADS.
In May, Hisdesat, a joint venture of Hispasat, EADS Astrium and various Spanish companies, announced it is seeking to build, launch and operate a new Ka-band secure communications satellite in cooperation with the Norwegian government. CEO Roberto Lopez said Hisdesat had secured a preliminary agreement from Oslo to help fund the 5-metric-ton 40-transponder satellite. The Norwegian navy would be the anchor customer for the $300-million satellite, which could be launched by late 2013. A Hisdesat/Loral X-band venture, XTAR, is known to be looking for additional capacity to serve U.S. government requirements.
Hispasat also has two other wholly owned spacecraft under construction. Hispasat 1E, being built by SS/L, is to be launched at year’s end by Arianespace to reinforce the company’s 30 deg. W. Long. slot. Hispasat AG1, a small Ka-/Ku-band satellite to cover the Americas and Europe from an as-yet-undisclosed orbital location, will carry an advanced reconfigurable onboard processing system. Being supplied by OHB System and Thales Alenia Space, Hispasat AG1 is to be orbited in 2012.
This rapid expansion, which aims to double capacity within two years, is being underwritten by solid operating performance. In the first half of 2009, Hispasat reported a 55% jump in net earnings, to €29.5 million ($37.3 million), on revenues of €75.5 million, up 10.9%. Revenues have surged 20.6% and operating earnings, 19.1%, since 2007.
The strong showing is attracting interest from investors. Last week, it became known that one of Hispasat’s main shareholders, Abertis, has become the object of a leveraged buyout offer from the U.K.’s CVC Capital Partners. Criteria Caixa Corp., another shareholder, said in a statement that CVC and Criteria were discussing takeover options with Abertis in collaboration with a third shareholder, ACS. One scenario would see the three companies form a joint-venture holding company that would acquire a substantial part of Criteria’s and ACS’s stakes and launch a tender offer for 100% of Abertis’s shares.
Investors say the three partners would likely refocus Abertis in its core business—toll road concessions—leading to a possible sell-off of other activities, including telecom satellites. The repercussions could go well beyond Hispasat, as Abertis is also a large shareholder in Paris-based Eutelsat. Eutelsat, in turn, is a major Hispasat shareholder. Last year, it sold preemption rights for its 27.6% Hispasat stake to Abertis.
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