Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on July 10, 2025
By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Mathieu Rosemain
(Reuters) -Britain plans to invest 163.3 million euros ($191 million) in satellite operator Eutelsat, the company said on Thursday, adding to a much bigger cash injection from France to help the company compete with SpaceX's Starlink.
Europe is racing to build up sovereign capabilities in several key areas, including defence and satellite communications, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policies.
Earlier on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a three-day state visit to Britain, thanked London in a post on X for the investment.
Eutelsat shares rose as much as 10% in early Paris trading.
The French government is poised to become the largest shareholder in Eutelsat later this year and is leading a separate capital increase effort to support the debt-laden company.
Under the plan, France's state shareholding agency will inject 750 million euros and bring its stake in the satellite operator to 29.65%.
With its new investment, Britain will maintain its 10.89% stake in Eutelsat, avoiding dilution from the French recapitalisation announced in June, while trying to maintain influence in European space policy despite Brexit.
It will also retain its "golden share", which gives Britain certain veto powers over OneWeb, the London-based subsidiary of Eutelsat, one person close to the matter told Reuters.
The total recapitalisation will now amount to 1.5 billion euros after the involvement of the UK, Eutelsat said.
"As our adversaries increasingly use space technologies to harm us, resilient satellite connectivity has become essential to our continent’s national security," British science and technology minister Peter Kyle said in a statement.
Kyle also said the investment reflected Britain's commitment to the development of these technologies and maintaining an important stake in the global satellite communications sector.
The deal could also open the door to Britain's involvement in the European Union's IRIS² satellite constellation project, for which Eutelsat is one of the main contractors, Les Echos newspaper, which first reported the UK's investment, said.
Britain became a shareholder in OneWeb in 2020 as part of a $1 billion bailout, before OneWeb merged with Eutelsat in 2023.
Eutelsat owns and manages 34 traditional geostationary satellites and over 600 low Earth orbit satellites, the world's second-biggest constellation after Starlink's.
The company's stock has gained 64% this year, buoyed by France's financial commitment and investors betting on its satellites as the best alternative to Starlink.
($1 = 0.8524 euros)
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Mathieu RosemainAdditional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau in Paris and Muvija M, Sarah Young, Kate Holton in LondonEditing by Barbara Lewis, Mark Potter and Tomasz Janowski)
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