Inmarsat To Acquire Virginia-based Network Operator

By Peter B. de Selding

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Andrew Sukawaty, chief executive officer of Inmarsat. Credit: Inmarsat photo Enlarge Image

PARIS — Mobile satellite operator Inmarsat on Nov. 23 announced it is purchasing communications services provider Segovia Inc. of the United States for $110 million in cash in a transaction that will bolster London-based Inmarsat’s position in U.S. government markets.

Herndon, Va.-based Segovia, which was founded in 2002, provides integrated communications services to the U.S. Department of Defense and other U.S. and allied government agencies through its terrestrial and satellite-based network.

The company, a customer of Inmarsat’s L-band mobile satellite services, operates a network of very small aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite Earth stations for the Defense Department. Segovia leases capacity on more than a dozen commercial geostationary-orbiting satellites operating in Ku- and C-band to provide global reach for its government customers.

In its Nov. 23 announcement of the acquisition, Inmarsat said Segovia reported a net profit of $18 million on revenue of $67 million for 2008.

Inmarsat said the $110 million purchase price, which it will finance from existing cash reserves, may be increased depending on Segovia’s performance in the next three years. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2010. Segovia will be operated as an independent division of Bethesda, Md.-based mobile satellite services distributor Stratos Global Networks, which Inmarsat purchased earlier this year.

“Segovia is ideally positioned to support the U.S. [Defense Department’s] requirements to deploy secure networks rapidly using combinations of satellite and terrestrial facilities wherever in the world they are required,” Inmarsat Chief Executive Andrew Sukawaty said in a Nov. 23 statement. “With Segovia’s secure global communications infrastructure and its highly qualified and security-cleared staff, we will further strengthen our relationships with key government customers across land, maritime and aeronautical environments, and bring enhanced services to the government sector generally.”