It took just 16 hours for European satellites operator Eutelsat to pull-off an amazing u-turn and pull the plug of a possible bid for its UK rival Inmarsat (ISAT).
Having issued a stock market statement at 3.16pm on Monday 25 June confirming that it was thinking long and hard about making a takeover offer for its peer, it promptly changed its mind having slept on it.
This morning at 7.46am the company issued a second announcement saying ‘Eutelsat hereby states that it does not intend to make an offer for Inmarsat.’
Inmarsat’s shares are today down around 6% at 591.2p.
TAKEOVER STORY MAY HAVE FURTHER TO RUN
This sudden burst of will it, won’t it merger excitement comes on the back of a preliminary proposal from satellite communications rival Echostar, which is listed on the Nasdaq market in the US. That approach was swiftly rejected by Inmarsat, as Shares recently detailed.
The UK satellites firm has been in the wars lately, struggling to nail down consistent growth, losing its monopoly in distress communications to shipping and being forced to slash its dividends.
Yet this story looks far from over. Analysts have become increasingly hopeful that a takeover battle will emerge, with Echostar, ViaSat and SES still being talked up as likely interested parties for the UK company, even if Eutelsat’s name has now fallen off the potential buyers list.
