Intelsat CEO Says Price For Loral Birds Is ‘Fair’

Intelsat CEO Conny Kullman believes his company is paying “a fair price” for Loral Space and Communications‘ six north American satellites and the rights to their orbital locations. Intelsat announced it had signed a $1.0 billion asset purchase agreement with Loral for these satellites and orbital rights on July 15.

Kullman told SATELLITE TODAY: “I think for the market conditions we are in and what we believe we can do with these satellites, we are definitely paying a fair price. If we were to do this organically, which we couldn’t do because the orbital locations are not available, we could not launch this capacity for less than $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion.”

The deal, if it gets approval by the U.S. regulators and the bankruptcy court, would dramatically increase Intelsat’s presence in the North American broadcasting and cable television market. The assets to be purchased include the Telstar 4, Telstar 5, Telstar 6 and Telstar 7 satellites. The agreement also includes two satellites currently under construction, Telstar 8 and Telstar 13.

An exclusive interview with Conny Kullman can be found in the July 30 issue of Interspace. For more information about subscribing to PBI Media’s satellite newsletters, check out our Web site at http://www.telecomweb.com/catalog.