Britain’s Inmarsat Satellite Group Going Private in $3.4 Billion Deal

  • Shares jump more than 8 percent to above agreed offer price
  • Satellite companies have faced oversupply, new competitors

Satellite dishes at Inmarsat Plc's headquarters in London.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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Funds including Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus placed a $3.4 billion bet on surging demand for inflight broadband, agreeing to buy satellite operator Inmarsat Plc in one of the biggest ever deals to delist a U.K. company.

Inmarsat shares jumped more than 8 percent to top the offer price as some investors speculated another bidder may try to break up a deal that already has the backing of top shareholder Lansdowne Partners.