Eutelsat set to land on London stock market as it seals OneWeb merger

The new French owner of UK satellite firm OneWeb is set to list on Britain’s stock market as soon as today.

Eutelsat, whose shares trade in Paris, has been targeting a secondary listing in London as part of the deal agreed last year. Its main listing and headquarters will remain in France.

OneWeb had been rescued by the Government in 2020 – a move championed by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings – after going bust. The UK will retain a ‘golden share’ under the Eutelsat takeover.

Its secondary listing in London is likely to be seen as a boost for the City at a time when a number of firms, most notably Cambridge-based chip designer Arm Holdings, have deserted the UK market. 

Arm opted for a blockbuster float on Wall Street earlier this month but has left the door open to a secondary listing in London too. OneWeb, a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink network, operates low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, aimed at providing access to high-speed internet where traditional ground infrastructure is hard to reach.

Applications include broadband on aeroplanes and parts of the Third World as well as the farthest-flung reaches of the UK.

The tie-up brings it together with Eutelsat’s more conventional geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites – used for decades for tasks such as weather forecasting or TV broadcasting.

Shares rose 2 per cent in Paris as the completion of the deal was announced yesterday. But they have fallen by around half since the merger was revealed in July last year.

Eutelsat said revenues at the new company are expected to see double-digit growth over the medium to long term, reaching around £1.7billion.