TAMPA, Florida – Eutelsat has completed the final step in a 5 billion euro ($5.8 billion) refinancing plan to refresh its OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband constellation and support Europe’s IRIS² sovereign connectivity program, the French satellite operator announced March 6.
The company said it had successfully closed a 1.5 billion euro bond, activating other debt financing it recently arranged to fund investments for 2026-2029, as well as an equity investment led last year by the French government, its largest shareholder.
The financing package comes weeks after the collapse of the sale of passive ground infrastructure, from which Eutelsat had hoped to raise about 550 million euros, although the company said the setback would not affect its ability to finance its growth strategy.
Two-tranche bond offering unlocked:
- There is a bank loan of approximately 900 million euros to refinance existing loans, consisting of a term loan of 400 million euros and a revolving credit facility of 500 million euros.
- A €200 million amendment with the European Investment Bank, the EU’s investment arm, which transferred the borrower from a subsidiary to the parent company to simplify the capital structure and centralize lending at group level.
Eutelsat Chief Financial Officer Sébastien Roose said the completion of the financing package marks a turning point in the company’s transformation into a provider of geostationary and LEO services.
“With this strong financial foundation, Eutelsat is well-positioned to accelerate the deployment of its multi-orbit strategy, support the future European IRIS² constellation and strengthen its position as the leading provider of space connectivity in Europe,” he said in a statement.
located for development
The financing plan includes the 2.2 billion euros Eutelsat expects to need to recoup OneWeb over the next three years as its first-generation satellites approach the end of their design life.
The majority of the 654 satellites currently in OneWeb’s network were launched between 2020 and 2023, extending their expected operational lifetime to approximately 2027–2028.
Eutelsat has also committed approximately 2 billion euros for its stake in Europe’s IRIS² public-private partnership, which aims to provide services from a multi-orbit constellation around the end of the decade and includes operators SES and Hispasat.
The investment comes as Eutelsat looks to expand its LEO business following its 2023 merger with OneWeb, amid growing competition from SpaceX’s Starlink and the upcoming constellation of Amazon, Telesat and others also targeting government and enterprise customers.
Excluding currency fluctuations, OneWeb’s revenue on a like-for-like basis rose nearly 60% to around 111 million euros in the six months ended December 31.
LEO connectivity now accounts for about 20% of Eutelsat’s total revenue as its legacy geostationary TV business continues to decline.
Video revenue fell 12.3% to about 267 million euros, reflecting additional restrictions imposed on Russian channels following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, connectivity revenues from Eutelsat’s fleet of satellites in geostationary orbit fell 4.5% to about 197 million euros.
Overall, OneWeb-driven revenue rose 0.1% to about 592 million euros.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 6.1% to about 308 million euros.
