OneWeb saved by Indian Bharti and the British State

OneWeb, the constellation of broadband internet created by Greg Wyler in 2012, is saved. The New York bankruptcy court judge has appointed a public-private team to take over the company, which went bankrupt on March 27. It was the favorite, a consortium led by the Indian group Bharti (owner of the mobile operator Airtel) associated with the British state, which was chosen. The two partners are investing $ 500 million each to take control of OneWeb. The operation must be finalized at the end of 2020. It still has to obtain the green light from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the federal authorities for foreign investments.

Bharti and the British government replace the Japanese Softbank, the former majority shareholder, who plunged into serious difficulties in the wake of the Covid-19 epidemic. Over-indebted, Softbank could not mobilize an additional $ 2 billion to continue the OneWeb adventure.

Read also: With Oneweb, the UK defends its presence in space after Brexit

For London, which will own 20% of the Anglo-American company, OneWeb represents a golden opportunity to make up for the loss of autonomy linked to its exit from Galileo, the European navigation system, because of Brexit. OneWeb, with 74 satellites already in orbit, gives it access to connectivity capacity in low orbit. And it is the first
step towards a future British GPS.

Airbus, an 8% shareholder of OneWeb and an industrial partner (it assembles the satellites in the United States), supported the project. This rescue is also good news for Arianespace, first creditor of the constellation (for 238 million dollars) and the main partner in launch services.