As rumored for some time, the satellite operator Intelsat Ltd. has been on sale. And today we know who the new owner is: BC Partners, a top European private equity firm.The price tag? It's about $5 billion. Although if you add on the debt load (from a prior private equity deal), the amount comes to about $11.5 billion.
Interestingly enough, there were a number of strategic parties that wanted to buy Intelsat, such as EchoStar Communications. Yet with dirt cheap debt markets, the private equity folks were able to put together higher bids.
Actually, it was back in 2004 that Intelsat entered a buyout deal -- for about $3.1 billion. A year later, the firm purchased PanAmSat.
Basically, private equity firms like the rich cash flows of satellite companies. Also, the barriers to entry are considerable.
However the existing owners of Intelsat -- which include Apax Partners, Apollo Management, Madison Dearborn Partners, Permira -- will keep a minority stake. After all, in light of the growth in digital media and HD television, it's probably a good bet that Intelsat still has growth potential.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
