Eutelsat and the main shareholders of OneWeb (Bharti, the UK Government, Softbank and Hanwha) have signed a final combination agreement.
According to Eutelsat, completion of the transaction remains subject to the customary conditions precedent, in particular the approval by the relevant regulatory authorities. Given the currently expected timetable for review by these authorities, the EGM of Eutelsat shareholders called to approve the transaction is now expected to be held in the second or third quarter of 2023. This possible change from the initially announced timetable should have no significant impact on the combined entity’s financial outlook released in connection with the proposed combination.
Eutelsat adds that upon completion of the transaction, the board of directors would be composed of 15 directors, including the chairman and a co-chairman (VP): the current chairman of Eutelsat (independent) who will be the chairman of the future board of directors, the current CEO of Eutelsat, who will remain as such, two directors proposed by Bharti, including Sunil Bharti Mittal as co-chairman, one director proposed by Bpifrance Participations, one director proposed by the UK Government, one independent director representing Fonds Stratégique de Participations, one independent director proposed by Hanwha, three independent directors proposed by OneWeb and four independent directors proposed by the board of directors of Eutelsat, three of whom are to be selected from among the current directors of Eutelsat. This would bring the number of independent directors on the Board to 67%.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, in July this year Eutelsat and key OneWeb shareholders signed an MoU with a view to combine the two companies in an all-share transaction.
