Intelsat Wins Justice Department Okay Of PanAmSat Takeover; FCC Pending

The U.S. Justice Department authorized Bermuda-based Intelsat Ltd. to proceed with its takeover of PanAmSat Holding Corp. [PA], the company announced.

Justice officials didn’t seek any conditions on the merger, according to Intelsat.

However, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission hasn’t yet cleared the buyout, according to Intelsat.

“We are gratified that the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, after a comprehensive review, agreed with us that the Intelsat-PanAmSat merger does not pose any threat to competition,” said Phillip Spector, executive vice president and general counsel of Intelsat.

“We demonstrated that the combination of Intelsat and PanAmSat will create powerful efficiencies, with complementary fleets [of satellites] assuring enhanced protection and flexibility for our diverse sets of customers.”

“With the Justice Department’s decision not to challenge our transaction, we are moving full speed ahead with our integration planning and preparations,” said Inteslat CEO David McGlade.

“We will be finalizing our financing over the next few weeks, and should be in a position to close soon after receiving FCC approval.”

Intelsat and PanAmSat announced the deal August 29.

Under the agreement, Intelsat will acquire PanAmSat for $25 per share in cash, or $3.2 billion. In addition, approximately $3.2 billion in debt of PanAmSat and its subsidiaries will remain outstanding or be refinanced.

Closing of the transaction is subject, among other things, to receipt of financing by Intelsat and to obtaining regulatory approval from the FCC, the company noted. But all other regulatory approvals required prior to closing have been obtained.