European Commission Approves SES $3.1B Intelsat Acquisition

The European Commission has unconditionally approved SES's $3.1 billion acquisition of Intelsat, strengthening Europe's position in the satellite broadband market and reinforcing the EU's strategic autonomy in satellite communications. The deal was cleared following similar approval by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, which emphasized competitive pressure from established players like SpaceX's Starlink, Viasat, Inmarsat, and emerging entrants such as Amazon's Project Kuiper. Both SES and Intelsat operate geostationary and medium Earth orbit satellites, differing from Starlink's low Earth orbit network, but have made strategic investments to close this gap, including involvement in LEO constellations like OneWeb and the EU-backed IRIS² program. Regulators concluded that the merger would not raise competition concerns due to the presence of credible competitors and terrestrial alternatives such as fiber services. This consolidation is viewed as part of a broader European strategy to scale up and better compete globally, reducing dependence on foreign satellite networks, especially amid geopolitical concerns about American and Chinese influence. The transaction now awaits final approval from U.S. regulators to complete the global merger.