Spanish Cabinet gives the green light to acquire 8.4% of Hispasat

Press room Spanish Cabinet gives the green light to acquire 28.4% of Hispasat abertis telecom is set to become the largest shareholder in the Spanish satellite operator following the deal

Barcelona, February 18th, 2008 Barcelona, 15 February 2008.- Today the Spanish Cabinet gave abertis the green light to acquire 28.4% of Hispasat through its telecommunications subsidiary, abertis telecom. The deal, which makes abertis the largest shareholder in the Spanish satellite operator, was announced on 31 October, 2007 following the execution of a purchase agreement between abertis, Ensafeca Holding Empresarial (formerly Auna) and BBVA, shareholders in Hispasat.

Now that the Spanish government has authorised the deal, it must be cleared by the anti-trust authorities.

The acquisition of the stakes held by Ensafeca Holding Empresarial (17.6%) and BBVA (10.8%) in Hispasat will entail an outlay for abertis telecom of 199Mn. The deal will be financed initially with short-term lines of credit, which will subsequently be taken out with long-term financing.

Hispasat currently operates a fleet of five communications satellites with orbital positions providing coverage in Europe and North and South America to 100% of the Spanish-speaking and 90% of the Portuguese-speaking markets. In 2006, Hispasat recorded revenue of around 120Mn, EBITDA of 89Mn and net profit of 24.5Mn.

abertis telecom s acquisition of a direct stake in Hispasat reinforces the strategy initiated with the purchase in January 2007 of 32% of Eutelsat, which in turn owns 27.69% of Hispasat, to round off its position in the terrestrial signal transmission network with a satellite transmission network and broaden the geographical scope of abertis telecommunications business.

LINK:	http://www.abertistelecom.com/en/sala-de-prensa.php?id=1864...
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