French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has blocked Eutelsat's planned sale of ground antennas, citing national security concerns. Eutelsat is Europe's largest rival to Elon Musk's Starlink.
The deal involved passive ground infrastructure that was to be sold to private equity firm EQT under an agreement reached in 2024. Eutelsat stood to gain around 550 million euros from the transaction.
"These antennas are used for both civil and military communications. Eutelsat is Starlink's only European competitor. It is clearly a strategic asset. So I said no," Lescure told TV station TF1.
He later followed up with a post on Bluesky: "This decision is exclusively linked to the critical nature of this activity in terms of French sovereignty and is in no way related to the quality of the investor."
Eutelsat shares fell over 5 percent in early trading in Paris. The French state is the largest shareholder with 29.6 percent. Despite the drop, the stock is up more than 30 percent so far this year after a strong January.
Eutelsat Communications is a global leader in satellite communications, delivering connectivity and broadcast services worldwide. The group was formed through the combination of Eutelsat and OneWeb in 2023, becoming the first fully integrated GEO-LEO satellite operator with a fleet of 35 geostationary (GEO) satellites and a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation of more than 600 satellites.
The group addresses the needs of customers in four key verticals of Video, where it distributes more than 6,500 television channels, and the high-growth connectivity markets of Mobile Connectivity, Fixed Connectivity, and Government Services. Eutelsat Group's unique suite of in-orbit assets and on-ground infrastructure enables it to deliver integrated solutions to meet the needs of global customers.
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