Bharti Space, an arm of Bharti Enterprises, will invest €31.4 million (₹312.8 crore) in French satellite operator Eutelsat, which plans to raise €1.35 billion (₹13,452 crore) of capital through a host of investors including the French State, CMA CGM and FSP.

Eutelsat will raise capital by way of reserved capital increase of €716 million (₹7,134 crore) at a price per share of €4 corresponding to an over 32 per cent premium and Rights Issue of €634 million (₹6,317 crore), expected to be completed by the end of calendar 2025 at the latest.

Following the two transactions, Bharti Space Limited’s shares will go from 24 per cent to 18.70 per cent. Other investors like the French State would hold a stake of 29.99 per cent, CMA CGM and FSP would hold 7.81 per cent and 5.22 per cent respectively. The Reserved Capital Increase Investors would not be in a position to launch a public takeover.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder & Chairman, Bharti Enterprises & Co-Chairman Eutelsat Group, said, “We are also thrilled to welcome the French armed forces ministry, DGA, partnership with Eutelsat in a long term €1 billion contract to reserve capacity on Eutelsat’s low-Earth orbit OneWeb constellation for its mission critical needs.”

Jean-François Fallacher, CEO of Eutelsat Group, said, “I welcome the contemplated capital increase which will give Eutelsat the requisite financing to implement its strategic roadmap. I am grateful for the support of the French State and the ongoing commitment of our other anchor shareholders – Bharti, CMA CGM and FSP and thank them for their confidence.”

The company will hold an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting around the end of the third quarter of calendar 2025 to get customary regulatory approvals. The capital increase has been unanimously approved by the Eutelsat Board members present or represented. The Reserved Capital Increase Investors have also committed to vote in favour of the transaction at the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting and maintain share ownership until the launch of the Rights Issue.

Eutelsat is one of only two global operators with active commercial LEO (Low Earth Orbit) fleets and the only one exclusively focused on the B2B and B2G markets. Since its acquisition of OneWeb, Eutelsat has expanded its coverage, expected to be fully achieved in calendar year-end 2026, secured regulatory approvals in many addressable markets, developed its distribution network and improved its offer with consistent service levels, as evidenced by a backlog of €3.7 billion revenues, mostly coming from Connectivity.

As the only European operator with a fully operational LEO network, Eutelsat is positioned to play a strategic role in supporting critical sectors such as military communications, cyber-resilience, and secure government connectivity, fully aligned with European Union and NATO objectives for strategic autonomy.

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Published on June 20, 2025