UK-headquartered low earth orbit satellite technology developer OneWeb secured $500m yesterday from diversified conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, which exercised a call option from a shareholder’s agreement to increase its stake to 38.6%.
OneWeb is developing a constellation of 650 low earth orbit satellites through which it intends to offer global broadband connectivity. This financing precedes the launch of 36 OneWeb satellites later this week.
Neil Masterson, OneWeb’s chief executive, said: “With the forthcoming launch we will have completed 40% of our network. We are intently focused on execution and just 10 more launches will enable us to deliver global coverage.”
The company had filed for bankruptcy in March 2020 after failing to secure new funding in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. Bharti and the UK government then bought OneWeb’s assets for $1bn in July that year.
OneWeb has since raised funding from pre-bankruptcy investors including fellow satellite operator Eutelsat Communications, which agreed to invest $550m in exchange for approximately 24% of its shares in April this year.
Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank had bought a 30% stake in the company for $350m three months earlier, with satellite services provider Hughes Network Systems contemporaneously providing $50m.
Bharti’s call option is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021, at which point Eutelsat, Softbank and the UK Government will each hold a 19.3% stake in the business.
Prior to the company’s bankruptcy filing, One Web had amassed $3.4bn of funding from investors including Bharti, Eutelsat, Hughes Network Systems, SoftBank’s Vision Fund, conglomerates Grupo Salinas and Virgin Group, beverage producer Coca-Cola, aerospace manufacturer Airbus and mobile semiconductor maker Qualcomm.