Bharti Space to invest ₹313 crore in Eutelsat's satellite expansion
Bharti Enterprises' space venture, Bharti Space Ltd, will invest €31.4 million—equivalent to about ₹ 313 crore or $36 million—in French satellite operator Eutelsat as part of the latter's €1.35 billion (around ₹ 11,250 crore) capital raising plan.
The company aims to use the fresh funds to pare debt and expand investments in satellite constellations, as it pushes to cement its role in the global space communications market, according to a release by Eutelsat on Thursday.
Eutelsat is raising the capital through a mix of a reserve capital increase worth €716 million ( ₹ 6,865 crore) and a rights issue of €634 million ( ₹ 6,330 crore). Bharti Space, along with other key investors—the French government, shipping major CMA CGM, and sovereign investor Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP)—will participate in both parts of the fundraise. The equity offering is expected to be completed by the end of calendar year 2025, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Bharti is already an investor in the Eutelsat Group with a 24% market share. With the investment commitment Bharti's shareholding in the entity would be around 18.7%, while French State will become the largest shareholder with a 29.99% stake in the company. Notably, in the merged entity of Eutelsat OneWeb, Bharti owns a 21% stake.
Eutelsat's reserved capital increase is being carried out at €4 per share, representing a 32% premium over the company's 30-day average share price on the Euronext Paris stock exchange. According to a company statement, the investment commitments are subject to shareholder nod at an extraordinary general meeting expected around the end of the third quarter of 2025.
The capital raise comes at a time of heightened activity in the satellite internet space, especially in India. OneWeb, now part of the Eutelsat Group, has received a licence from the Indian government to launch satellite internet services. However, the rollout remains on hold as the Department of Telecommunications is yet to allocate spectrum for such services.
The investment by Bharti also follows closely on the heels of Bharti Airtel's recent partnership announcement with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink's satellite broadband service to India. The move indicates that the group is hedging its bets across both GEO and LEO satellite service providers in anticipation of rising demand for rural and remote internet access.
'Eutelsat enters a new chapter, centred on the deployment of LEO, a major innovative and technological revolution for the satellite industry,' said Jean-François Fallacher, CEO of Eutelsat Group. The company is positioning itself as a key player in building a sovereign European satellite infrastructure, supported by its hybrid satellite fleet—35 geostationary (GEO) satellites and over 600 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
In a further boost to its long-term outlook, Eutelsat signed a 10-year agreement with France's Ministry of the Armed Forces this week, under the Nexus program. The deal, worth up to €1 billion ( ₹ 9,999 crore), aims to integrate military and civilian satellite resources and strengthen European capabilities in secure space communications.
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