Intelsat completes consent solicitation…

Intelsat SA (formerly Intelsat, Ltd.) has completed its consent solicitation relating to its 7% Senior Notes due 2012 and its 6.5% Senior Notes due 2013.
The satellite operator proposed to amend the terms of the notes so that their restrictions on…

Intelsat SA (formerly Intelsat, Ltd.) has completed its consent solicitation relating to its 7% Senior Notes due 2012 and its 6.5% Senior Notes due 2013.

The satellite operator proposed to amend the terms of the notes so that their restrictions on Intelsat S.A.’s ability to incur secured debt would be in line with similar restrictions on debt held by Intelsat’s other subsidiaries. The solicitation also seeks to make certain other undisclosed technical changes to the indenture.

The consent solicitation expired on April 21, 2010, with a majority of the noteholders agreeing to the proposal. Barclays Capital acted as the solicitation agent.

Intelsat is to pay each security holder who validly delivered their consent prior to the expiration date a payment equal to 2.00% of the outstanding principal amount of the notes.

Intelsat’s vice president of investor relations and corporate communications, Dianne VanBeber, told SatelliteFinance that by unifying the terms on incurring additional debt, the company would gain a bit more financial flexibility. “By conforming, we gain some additional room for secured debt that could be used to provide some additional flexibility as we consider future refinancings,” she said.

… moves satellite to cover Galaxy-15 anomaly

Intelsat has announced that its Galaxy-15 satellite experienced an anomaly on April 5 that has left the operator unable to directly control the satellite, which provides transmission capacity for cable programmers over North America from the 133W orbital slot.

According to a statement released by Intelsat, Galaxy-15 is still providing perfectly normal service to its commercial customers, and all data suggests that it will continue to do so.

The company is relocating Galaxy-12, its in-orbit spare for the North American region, to 133W. Once it arrives, all media traffic on Galaxy-15 will be transferred to Galaxy-12.

VanBeber told SatelliteFinance that Galaxy-12 should be at its new location by April 14.

“The functionality for operations is not working,” she said. “That’s an unstable platform, so we need to ensure that our customers are transferred as quickly as possible.”

Galaxy-15 was launched in 2005, and has a lifespan to run through to 2022.

It is an Orbital Star satellite manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation and carries 24 C-Band transponders.

Intelsat and Orbital are conducting a technical investigation into the anomaly. It is unclear whether the problem with the satellite is terminal.

VanBeber said that investigations are still at a very early stage, and that the full extent of the problem with the satellite will be easier to assess once the customers transferral is complete.

The satellite is not insured, as Intelsat only tends to insure its satellite through launch and the first year in orbit.