The owner of Spanish satellite operator Hispasat has said “fundamental disagreements” have hit talks to buy a controlling stake in its Israeli counterpart Spacecom.
José Aljaro, CFO of infrastructure giant Abertis, which holds 57% of Hispasat,…
The owner of Spanish satellite operator Hispasat has said “fundamental disagreements” have hit talks to buy a controlling stake in its Israeli counterpart Spacecom.
José Aljaro, CFO of infrastructure giant Abertis, which holds 57% of Hispasat, added there is no certainty about whether it will be able to complete the deal.
He did not elaborate on the issue during a financial results call yesterday with analysts.
Abertis announced back in April that it was in talks to take control of Spacecom from Eurocom, which is Israeli tycoon Shaul Elovitch’s private holding company, following months of speculation.
Spanish newspaper Expansion had said its bid valued the operator at €350m (US$484m), representing a 25% premium on its market capitalisation. However, when Spacecom told Israel’s stock exchange that it was up for sale late last year, local reports claimed it was seeking US$500m-US$600m, or double its market cap.
Hispasat was considered the frontrunner for the group, after Hong Kong-based satellite operator AsiaSat dropped out of the race earlier this year.
In a recent interview with SatelliteFinance, AsiaSat Bill Wade said it had considered an acquisition in line with aspirations to expand further west into Africa and the Middle East.
“Though it looked like a good opportunity, it proved too difficult for us to close the business case,” he said.
SatelliteFinance understands JP Morgan is running the sales process.
Speaking during Abertis’ H1 2014 results call, Aljaro said the group was continuing to scour the market for investment opportunities.
“In satellite, we continue to actively look at ways to grow Hispasat, in line with the company’s complete commitment to establish Hispasat as one of the world leaders.”
The group said EBITDA increased 11% to €1.48bn (US$2bn) in the first half, compared with the corresponding period the year before, while revenues jumped 5% to €2.31bn (US$3.11bn).
