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Eutelsat raises $960M in equity, 1st of 3 transactions to cut debt & position for ECA funding for OneWeb, Iris2 constellations

Eutelsat raises $960M in equity, 1st of 3 transactions to cut debt & position for ECA funding for OneWeb, Iris2 constellations
https://www.spaceintelreport.com/eutelsat-raises-960m-in-equity-1st-of-3-transactions-to-cut-debt-position-for-eca-funding-for-oneweb-iris2-constellations/
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November 20, 2025

Swedish private equity firm EQT has agreed to purchase Eutelsat’s ground segment — 1,400 antennas at more than 100 sites — in a sale-and-leaseback transaction in which Eutelsat would retain 80% ownership and would be the anchor customer of the new company. The new company has an enterprise value of 790 million euros. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2026. Credit: EQT

LA PLATA, Maryland — Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat’s board, as expected, approved the company’s equity raise of 828 million euros ($960.2 million) at a price of 4 euros per share, with 66% of it committed by the French government via Agence des Participations de l’Etat (APE), whose stake in Eutelsat will be 29.65%.

Two private French companies — CMA CGM Participations and FSP, owned by a group of French insurers — will respectively hold 17.88% and 10.89% of Eutelsat equity after the transaction.

Bharti Space Limited of India will have 17.88% of Eutelsat, reducing its current 24% ownership stake.

The UK government, through the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, is investing 90 million euros in the equity raise to maintain its ownership at 10.89%.

Credit: Google Finance

Eutelsat, whose shares have been trading at about 3.50 euros in recent months, said the capital raise would be settled in the coming days. Shares closed at 3.15 euros on Nov. 18.

These investors have also agreed to subscribe their full shares to a Eutelsat rights issue totaling 672 million euros.

“In aggregate, Eutelsat has therefore received irrevocable commitment subscriptions representing in excess of 70% of the contemplated rights issue,” Eutelsat said in a Nov. 18 statement on the transactions. Subject to market regulator AMF approve of the prospectus, Eutelsat said the transaction would occur by the end of the year.

In addition to the above deals, Eutelsat expects to close the sale of 80% of its ground segment — 1,400 antennas distributed across more than 100 sites — to Swedish private equity investor EQT in early 2026. Eutelsat will be the anchor customer of the newly created company.

The 500 million euros from this transaction, coupled with the equity raises of 1.4 billion euros, are expected to reduce Eutelsat’s debt to 2.5 times EBITDA by the end of Eutelsat’s current fiscal year on June 30.

France has committed to Eutelsat’s success mainly because it’s Eutelsat that will be managing development of the low-orbit portion of the European Commission’s Iris2 multi-orbit secure communications constellation.

Iris2 features 264 satellites in a 1,200-kilometer orbit, the same orbit as is used by Eutelsat’s OneWeb broadband constellation.

The French Defense Ministry earlier this year agreed to purchase 1 billion euros of OneWeb capacity over 10 years. This transaction goes beyond just leasing OneWeb capacity to include working with OneWeb prime contractor Airbus Defence and Space to modify OneWeb replacement satellites to better fit military requirements, with the possibility of placing hosted payloads on the OneWeb spacecraft.

Airbus signed a 100-satellite contract with Eutelsat in December for the first 100 of an expected 440 OneWeb replacement satellites, to be delivered starting in late 2026. The satellites are all being built at Airbus’s Toulouse, France, facility.

Credit: Eutelsat February 2025 investor presentation

Eutelsat has said its OneWeb replenishment satellites are expected to cost 2.2 billion euros, including launch. Its commitment to Iris2 is estimated to cost 2 billion euros starting in 2027.

The company’s current cash flow will not be enough to handle these commitments, even with the new equity. The company said that with its reduced debt it “should be well placed to tap debt capital markets and raise export credit financing in order to fully cover the financing needs of its medium-term plan.”

Eutelsat told investors in May that once the company has reduced its leverage, export-credit agencies could be expected to contribute 60-70% of the capex needed to deploy what’s needed to maintain the current OneWeb constellation and, starting at the end of the decade, the Iris2 LEO component.