Teleport services and satellite communications company Belgium Satellite Services has acquired Intersat Africa, an internet-via-satellite service provider, as it seeks to expand its presence in Africa and the Middle East.
Speaking to SatelliteFinance,…
Teleport services and satellite communications company Belgium Satellite Services has acquired Intersat Africa, an internet-via-satellite service provider, as it seeks to expand its presence in Africa and the Middle East.
Speaking to SatelliteFinance, BSS chief executive Nitin Dhawan said that company could follow the deal with further mid-size acquisitions, particularly in the Middle East, in order to gain scale in the region.
Dhawan would not disclose financial terms of the Intersat transaction, although did say that the consideration was split between an upfront cash payment and a three-year earn out based on Intersat hitting certain revenue targets. He added that BSS had been in discussions with Intersat over a strategic partnership since February 2011.
For BSS the logic of the deal centred on Intersat’s strong enterprise customer base and ground reach in Africa. Dhawan said that BSS has been looking to move into the region for sometime but having a local presence and knowledge was hugely vital and taking an inorganic approach made sense.
This view was echoed by Ajoy Khandheria, chairman of BSS, who commented: “BSS has been looking to expand into Africa and the Middle East through a strategic partner for some time now and we are delighted to have found the right synergy and drive in Intersat Africa Limited, which has earned its reputation for providing reliable, stable and innovative solutions tailored to the African market.”
Headquartered in Nairobi, with offices in Dubai and London, Intersat currently offers internet-via-satellite connectivity, via capacity on SES satellites, to major organisations, government institutions and the private sector through the African continent and part of the Middle East.
On completion of the deal, the two companies will work towards joint sales, marketing and product development activities, while BSS plans to open subsidiaries in Dubai and Nairobi to support the acquisition.
While much of the deal was done in-house, Kenyan law firm Anjarwalla & Khanna provided legal advice on the due diligence.
BSS was formed following the acquisition of Belgacom’s satellite services division for approximately US$25m in 2007 by ORG Informatics. Following the deal, ORG refocssed its activities on its core IT and telecom system integration business with all its satellite assets being transferred to BSS. Both ORG and BSS are majority owned by Global Asia Partners, a Silicon Valley based venture capital firm that is in turn controlled by Ajoy Khandheria.
