Apax Partners SA is understood to have won the bidding process for Airbus Defence and Space’s commercial satcoms services business, a person familiar with the matter has told SatelliteFinance.
Airbus DS put the unit up for sale in September last year…
Apax Partners SA is understood to have won the bidding process for Airbus Defence and Space’s commercial satcoms services business, a person familiar with the matter has told SatelliteFinance.
Airbus DS put the unit up for sale in September last year along with a suite of other non-core assets as part of Airbus group’s wider restructuring strategy.
The commercial satcoms business primarily comes from Vizada, the satcoms services provider that Apax sold to Airbus, then EADS, for US$960m back in 2011.
Apax and Airbus DS both declined to comment.
The sale process was run by Lazard and the completion date is in line with guidance given to SatelliteFinance earlier this year by Evert Dudok, head of communication, intelligence and security at the European aerospace giant.
Both strategic and private equity players were interested in buying the unit, although sources close to the deal previously told SatelliteFinance that Airbus DS preferred to sell to a sponsor. Paris-based Apax had previously been reported to be in discussions to buy the asset.
Airbus DS said the unit, which includes professional mobile radio and commercial satcoms services activities, would be better positioned for growth under different ownership structures.
As part of the structural review, Airbus DS also put Fairchild Controls, Rostock System-Technik, AvDef, ESG and Atlas Elektronik on the block.
Total revenue of all the assets up for sale comes to around €2bn (US$2.6bn), or just over 14% of the €14bn in sales that the Airbus DS division makes overall.
