Investment firm EQT is in talks with European satellite firm Eutelsat over a deal to acquire the latter company's ground station infrastructure in a sale-leaseback deal.

The EQT Infrastructure VI fund has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a majority stake in the business.

The transaction would carve out passive assets, including land, buildings, support infrastructure, antennas, and connectivity circuits, to form a new standalone legal company.

EQT would own 80 percent of the business, while Eutelsat would remain a long-term shareholder with 20 percent and become the unit’s anchor tenant. The contemplated transaction values the new entity at €790 million ($863.8m).

The ground station business consists of approximately 1,400 antennas across more than 100 locations globally, enabling satellite communications for Eutelsat Group, OneWeb, and other third-party customers.

The new unit would be rebranded after the closing of the transaction, with its headquarters remaining in France.

EQT said it would “support the continued development” of the acquired ground station business in its “journey to becoming a premier independent ground station operator globally,” including through investments in new and existing antenna infrastructure and M&A-driven growth.

Carl Sjölund, partner within the EQT value-add infrastructure advisory team, said: “At EQT, we identified satellite ground stations as an attractive digital infrastructure vertical several years ago. They play an important role in ensuring global connectivity, especially for those not covered by fixed and mobile connectivity solutions, and require deep global expertise in developing and operating telecommunications infrastructure businesses.”

Reports Eutelsat was mulling the sale of its ground station network surfaced earlier this year. Paris-based Eutelsat has reportedly been reviewing its strategy since its merger with rival provider OneWeb, first announced in 2022, closed last year.

Eva Berneke, Eutelsat group CEO, added: “We are proud to become the first satellite operator to embark on this innovative transaction which would allow us to build on the model adopted in other industries, and to optimize the value of our extensive ground network.

"This transaction would represent a win-win situation for all parties, and would enable Eutelsat to strengthen its financial profile, whilst continuing to rely on the unparalleled quality and reliability of its ground infrastructure. Moreover, we are confident that with the backing of EQT, the business would be in a position to fully embrace the opportunities opening up to it as the new global leader in this dynamic sector.”

Though Eutelsat has previously admitted OneWeb's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network was “running behind schedule” due to ground station delays, OneWeb has seen a number of sites go live this year.

In other recent space news:

– ViaSat’s troubled ViaSat-3 F1 Satellite has entered commercial service. Despite its reduced capacity, the satellite is now available for aviation customers operating over North America, including routes servicing Hawaii.

– Satellite IoT firm Astrocast is to be delisted from EuroNext’s Oslo Børs stock exchange on August 20th. Despite plans to raise new funds, the company has previously said there is a “material uncertainty” casting “significant doubt” about its ability to continue.

– MicroGeo firm Astranis has secured $200 million to fully fund the launch of its first Omega spacecraft in 2026. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz co-led the Series D funding round with investment firm BAM Elevate; Blackrock, Fidelity, and Baillie Gifford also participated.

– SpaceX’s Starlink now claims more than 1.4 million customers in the US.

– Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellites are reportedly five times brighter than its previous satellites, according to astronomers.

– Marlink has installed Starlink terminals on oil rigs in the Mediterranean and North Sea owned by Shelf Drilling.

– CGI has deployed a free-to-use public wireless service in Norfolk, partly using Starlink.

– Spain’s Indra is to acquire small satellite mission firm Deimos. Owned by Spanish energy giant Elecnor, Deimos provides satellite integration, subsystem, and ground segment technologies.

– Leaf Space has deployed its first ground station with a Ka-band link in Blönduós, Iceland. Previously the company had offered S, X, and UHF support. Leaf also recently launched operations on two antennas in Punta Arenas, Chile.

– SES has secured a $3.6 million satcoms managed service contract with the US Army, as well as a $46.8m contract with the US Air Force.

– Arabsat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization to support rapid disaster response.

– Botswana is to lease capacity from Azercosmos’ Azerspace-1 telecommunication satellite.

– NASA streamed 4K video to and from the ISS to an aircraft for the first time using optical laser communications.

– The US Space Force is to install 24 satellite jamming stations to potentially disrupt enemy satellites.

– The US Army has seen its first TITAN ground station prototype delivered at Joint Base Lewis-McChor in Tacoma, Washington.