• EU to decide next week on SES's $2.9B acquisition of Intelsat
• Deal expected to receive unconditional approval after UK clearance
• Merger may reshape Africa’s satellite TV landscape

The acquisition of American satellite operator Intelsat by Luxembourg-based Société européenne des satellites (SES) is expected to receive unconditional approval from the European Commission next week. The deal, valued at over $2.9 billion, was officially announced in April 2024 following speculation that began in March 2023.

Approval from the EU would finalize SES’s takeover of its U.S. rival. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) cleared the deal on June 2, and European media report that Brussels is likely to follow suit without conditions.

The merger is seen as a step toward building a European competitor to Starlink and could significantly impact Africa’s satellite television market.

Both SES and Intelsat are key players in African broadcasting. SES provides satellite capacity to Canal+ in Africa via SES-4 and broadcasts several free-to-air African channels, including Ethiosat, which reaches 17 million people in Ethiopia through its NSS-12 satellite.

Intelsat, meanwhile, broadcasts around 500 channels across the continent, primarily through its IS-20 satellite.

By combining their operations, the two firms would bring a large share of Africa’s satellite broadcasting under one entity, potentially reshaping the region’s TV distribution landscape.