Apax Partners ("Apax") and Permira, two of the world's leading private equity firms, today announced the successful acquisition of Inmarsat Ventures, a leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. The deal consideration is undisclosed.
The acquisition makes Apax Partners and Permira investors in a group which aims to be the world's leader in mobile satellite communications. As a first step to be recognised as such, Inmarsat has launched the next generation of high speed data and voice services - the Broadband Global Area Network Service. Andrew Sukawaty has been appointed as the new non-executive Chairman and Michael Storey remains as CEO.
Apax and Permira were approached by ARC Associates, ("ARC") the specialist investment banking and advisory firm to the TMT, financial Services and property sectors, with the idea of acquiring Inmarsat Ventures.
Richard Wilson, the Managing Director of Apax Partners, said: "ARC Associates initiative in bringing the transaction to us and in facilitating the initial discussions with shareholders provided the transaction with its impetus".
Graham Wrigley, a Partner at Permira added, "After ARC had convinced us of the inherent value in Inmarsat Ventures, we were delighted to join forces with Apax and pool our resources. We were pleased to be able to work again with ARC as the transaction progressed."
Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity investment groups, operating across Europe, Israel, the United States and Japan. Apax Partners' Funds invest in companies across its six chosen global sectors of information technology, telecommunications, healthcare, media, financial services, retail and consumer.
Permira is a leading international private equity specialist with offices in Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris and Stockholm. Permira acts as adviser to the 18 Permira Funds, totalling approximately Euro 11 billion, that have been raised since 1985. During the last 3 years, the Permira Funds have completed 12 transactions with a combined transaction value of over Euro 16 billion.
ARC Associates is a specialist investment banking and advisory firm to the telecommunications, media, technology, financial services and property sectors.
Contact:
John Allen, Chairman
ARC Associates
+ 44 (0) 20 7614 4000