African DTH firm MultiChoice is co-financing a new satellite with Intelsat to expand its coverage across the operator’s 68.5E orbital slot.
The pay-TV group has signed a 15-year deal for the entire Ku-band payload on the Intelsat 36 spacecraft, which…
African DTH firm MultiChoice is co-financing a new satellite with Intelsat to expand its coverage across the operator’s 68.5E orbital slot.
The pay-TV group has signed a 15-year deal for the entire Ku-band payload on the Intelsat 36 spacecraft, which is looking for other customers to use its C-band transponders.
The new bird is expected to be launched at the end of 2016, when it will join Intelsat 20 at a slot that MultiChoice has been using since it began operating in 1995.
“Intelsat’s continued support will enable us to grow our business, providing viewers with high quality programming and compelling entertainment services,” said MultiChoice CFO Tim Jacobs.
MultiChoice has already pledged to make between US$75m and US$100m in lease payments between 2014 and 2016 for the deal. Intelsat meanwhile said capital spending this year will rise by US$50m to US$625m-US$700m. Its spending forecast for 2015 and 2016 remains unchanged at US$775m-US$850m and US$625m-US$700m, respectively.
“The company also affirmed its goal of repaying approximately US$400m in debt in 2014,” it said in an SEC filing.
The satellite operator has been a frequent visitor to the bond markets in recent years as it steadily pays down its debt mountain. It listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year to help reduce this burden.
With rivals SES and Eutelsat meanwhile ordering satellites for Latin America’s emerging economy, Intelsat’s co-financing deal with its long-term anchor customer is seen as a financially astute way for the group to tap its own promising growth market.
