Eutelsat Finalizes Plans To Go Public on Euronext Market

摘要

Satellite-fleet operator Eutelsat is entering the stock market hoping to position itself as a company promising shareholders a regular, if undefined, dividend while maintaining sales growth of 2 percent in 2005 and 4 percent per year between 2007 and 2009, company officials said. Paris-based Eutelsat, currently owned by several private-equity companies, plans an initial public offering (IPO) on the Euronext market that is intended to raise around 1.2 billion euros ($1.44 billion). The IPO, which was priced Oct. 11 at 15.25-17.75 euros per share, could raise up to 1.6 billion euros for Eutelsat's current owners if shareholders exercise their option of selling additional shares, and if Eutelsat's investment banks — Deutche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley — purchase the maximum number of shares re-served for them once the initial share tranche has been sold.