MDA Denies Reports Of Divesting Space Assets

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., has denied press reports that the company is looking to sell its surveillance and space assets.

"In response to [June 14] articles in the Wall Street Journal and the [Toronto] Globe and Mail … there are no discussions underway with any party to acquire MDA or any of its business units or subsidiaries."

The articles reported that MDA was asking about $1 billion for its space businesses and had drawn preliminary interest from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Alliant Techsystems Inc.

MDA’s space assets include imagery satellite development and operations, space robotics work for the space shuttle and International Space Station, and the development of a small satellite platform that could be used for a variety of missions.

Motient To Begin Trading On Nasdaq

Nasdaq has accepted an application from Motient Corp., controlling shareholder of TerreStar Networks Inc. and TerreStar Global Ltd., to trade Motient’s common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market, Motient announced June 14.

The shares are expected to commence trading June 20 under the symbol MNCP.

GeoEye Sets Strategic Investment, Partnership With Spadac

GeoEye has made a strategic investment in Spadac, a provider of geo-intelligence and predictive analysis solutions, GeoEye announced June 13.

Terms of the investment were not disclosed, but the arrangement calls for each party to use the other’s capabilities, and for the companies to collaborate in research and development efforts.

"Partnering with GeoEye gives Spadac the opportunity to collaboratively work with some of the biggest names in geospatial solutions and service Fortune 500 and international clients with end-to-end value propositions," Mark Dumas, chairman and CEO of Spadac, said in a statement.

CIP Canada Increases Bid For Stratos

CIP Canada Investment Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of Communications Investment Partners Ltd., increased its cash offer for Stratos Global Corp. to 7 Canadian dollars ($6.60) per share, increasing the overall offer to $630 million from $576 million.

Abertis Considering Acquisition Of Stake In Hispasat

Spanish industrial group Abertis, which in January acquired a stake in Eutelsat Communications, is in talks to acquire up to 40 percent of Hispasat, Abertis reported.

Hispasat announced June 8 that its shareholders were considering a public stock offering, and Abertis has been in negotiations with private shareholders of Hispasat, according to an Abertis filing with the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores, the agency in charge of supervising and inspecting Spanish stock markets.

In January, Abertis completed the purchase of a 32 percent stake in Eutelsat for 1.1 billion euros ($1.4 billion).

ATK Completes Acquisition Of Swales Aerospace

Alliant Techsystems (ATK) completed its acquisition of Swales Aerospace, a provider of satellite components and subsystems, small spacecraft and engineering services for NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and commercial satellite customers.

Effective immediately, the former Swales facility in Beltsville, Md., will serve as the headquarters of ATK’s Space Division within the Mission Systems Group. Mike Cerneck, previously Swales Aerospace’s CEO, will lead the division.

Vodacom, Naspers Form Satellite TV Joint Venture

Vodacom Group, South Africa’s largest cell phone company, and Naspers, the country’s largest media company, have formed a venture to sell satellite television services, the companies announced.

Consumers will be able to choose between two packages of as many as 16 television channels received through satellite dishes, paying as little as 139 Rand ($19) a month, Vodacom and Naspers said.

The packages will sell under the brand DSTV Select. Naspers already sells the DSTV satellite television service in South Africa and other African countries.

FCC Seeks Public Comment On Sirius-XM Merger

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a June 8 public notice seeking comment on the proposed merger of licensees Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

The FCC will decide whether the merger, announced Feb. 19 when it was valued at approximately $4.7 billion, is in the public interest if both broadcasters’ licenses were controlled by a single company.

Approval of the deal is also subject to the U.S Department of Justice, which will consider any competitive harm that might result if the companies combined.

An FCC review of a merger is typically conducted within 180 days, which would project a decision in December.