Reuters reports that EU antitrust officials will unconditionally approve the deal, with a formal decision expected around June 10.
The deal, announced last April, is slowly edging to fruition, having received unconditional clearance from the UK’s competition authority last week.
It’s also being examined by both the US Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, with SES calling on the former to expedite its review, after the agency had kept it pending for several months.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025, which, if greenlit, would bring together two of the satellite industry’s biggest operators.
Intelsat said at the time of the deal’s unveiling that it would create €2.4 billion of synergies, while expanding SES’s multi-orbit offerings.
EU sign-off on the merger comes as officials have been working to curb Starlink’s dominance, having approved a Euro-centric multi-orbital constellation led by the SpaceRISE consortium, which includes SES alongside Eutelsat and Hispasa.
IRIS², which is also being supported by Thales, Deutsche Telekom and Orange, aims to provide secure space-based high-speed broadband services for EU Member States.
“This cutting-edge constellation will protect our critical infrastructures, connect our most remote areas and increase Europe’s strategic autonomy,” Henna Virkkunen, EVP for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, said at the time.
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