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UK Watchdog Probes ViaSat, Inmarsat Merger

By  |  July 25, 2022

The Competition and Markets Authority said Monday that it has started an investigation into the merger of ViaSat and Inmarsat.

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    The UK regulator said it is giving interested parties the opportunity to collaborate on the probe ahead of making a decision by providing comments until Aug. 15.

    “The regulatory process is on track, and we will contribute constructively to the review by the UK Competition and Markets Authority–as we have with regulators in other territories,” an Inmarsat spokesperson said, noting that the deal was recently approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

    ViaSat said in November 2021 it had agreed to acquire UK satellite-telecommunications company Inmarsat in a cash-and-stock deal worth $7.3 billion, which included the company assuming $3.4 billion of net debt in the transaction.

    Back in March, the satellite communication groups said they had agreed to a package of legally-binding economic undertakings with the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as part of the merger.

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