Abertis Closes the Sale of 7% of Eutelsat to China Investment Corporation
Posted on 06/22/2012
According to the press release, “abertis agreed to sell 7% of Eutelsat to China Investment Corporation (CIC) for €385.2 million. The transaction, which generated net capital gains of €237 million, follows abertis’ January sale of 16% of Eutelsat in a private placement among qualified investors. abertis will remain a Eutelsat shareholder, with a stake of 8.35%.
In compliance with the terms agreed by abertis in the recent placement of a 16% stake in Eutelsat’s share capital among qualified investors, CIC has agreed not to dispose of the acquired shares (“lock-up”) during the period that remains from the initial 6 months that abertis had agreed.
abertis keeps on reshuffling its holdings in the satellite infrastructure business and strengthening its commitment to growth, specifically targeting projects in which it can take an industry leadership role and a greater financial consolidation, as in the case of Hispasat.”
Historic reference link: http://www.abertis.com/news/abertis-closes-the-sale-of-7-of-eutelsat–to-china-investment-corporation/var/lang/en/idm/487/idc/4196
Background
The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Eutelsat) was originally set up in 1977 by 17 European countries as an intergovernmental organisation (IGO). With the general liberalization of the telecommunications sector in Europe, Eutelsat’s assets, liabilities, and operational activities were transferred to a private company called Eutelsat S.A. established for this purpose in July 2001.