Intelsat, OneWeb confirm merger agreement

(Telecompaper) Satellite operators Intelsat and OneWeb have confirmed plans to merge, with financial support from OneWeb's investor Softbank. The share-for-share transaction includes a pledge from Softbank to invest USD 1.7 billion in shares to be issued by the new company. The deal is contingent on a debt exchange offer from Intelsat, which along with the Softbank investments, is expected to reduce the company's debt by around USD 3.6 billion.