spacetoday.net: Intelsat acquisition completed

Posted: Mon, Jan 31, 2005, 5:55 AM ET (1055 GMT)
Satellite communications company Intelsat announced Friday that Zeus Holdings, a group of private investors, had completed their acquisition of the company. Intelsat said that Zeus will pay $18.75 per share for the company, for a total value of $5 billion, including the assumption of $2 billion in existing debt. That value is effectively unchanged from the original value of the acquisition when it was announced last year, even though two of Intelsat's satellites, IA-7 and IS-804, suffered partial or complete failures since the deal was announced last summer. There had been speculation that the failures would cause Zeus to lower the price it would pay for Intelsat, although few felt Zeus would exercise its right to walk away from the deal. Zeus Holdings is a holding company formed by a consortium of funds advised by Apax Partners, Apollo Management, Madison Dearborn Partners, and Permira for the exclusive purpose of acquiring Intelsat. The purchase was the latest in a series of acquisitions of satellite operators by private equity companies.