Intelsat Ltd., the mega satellite company, sold out for $3 billion in January 2005. The buyers included private equity firms Apollo Management, Apax Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners, and Permira Advisers.Well, now it looks like Intelsat is going to be sold again, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal [subscription only]. The suitor is rumored to be the mighty Blackstone Group and the price tag could reach $6 billion.
Intelsat has a fleet of 51 satellites that provide an assortment of video, data and voice streams across more than 200 countries. The company is also a cash cow. In 2006, revenues were $1.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA was a cool $1.3 billion.
There is even a revenue backlog of $8.1 billion.
Moreover, the company is benefiting from some mega trends, such as HD television and the growth in home entertainment centers. There is also traction from IP traffic.
All in all, it looks like a savvy investment for Intelsat's current investors.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
