July Bankruptcy and Restructuring Developments
July 10 – The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York preliminarily approved a bid by BidCo 100 Ltd., a consortium consisting of the UK Government and Bharti Global Ltd. (Bharti), to acquire OneWeb Global Ltd. (OneWeb) for $1b divided equally between the co-bidders. The new funding will support OneWeb’s emergence from bankruptcy and deployment of its LEO broadband constellation, for which the company has already launched 74 satellites. UK interest in OneWeb was reportedly driven in part by the country’s pursuit of a Ku-band LEO back-up for the US GPS and European Galileo systems. Bharti first invested in OneWeb in 2015 along with other original investors; its new investment is considered to be motivated by the potential for expanded synergies with its core business activities as a leader in the wireless and cell tower sectors. On July 27, Hughes Network Systems, LLC, another original OneWeb investor, announced that it would join the consortium with a $50m investment of its own.
July 22 – Amid the continuing slowdown in the travel sector resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Global Eagle Entertainment Inc., an in-flight and maritime connectivity provider, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware with the aim of arranging the sale of its assets to a group of senior secured creditors. The company announced that it agreed with the creditor group on a $125m Chapter 11 exit funding plan, which includes $80m in debtor-in-possession financing, as well as a $675m stalking horse asset purchase agreement.
