Private equity firms purchase Intelsat

Intelsat, the worldwide satellite operator, announced last week that it had agreed to sell a majority stake of the business for $5 billion to a group led by a London private equity firm, BC Partners.

It had been widely publicized that Liberty Media and EchoStar Communications placed a bid to seek ownership of Intelsat. The “Wall Street Journal” reported that the satellite broadcasters lost to a higher offer from BC.

Under the deal, BC Partners and other investors will buy 76 percent of Intelsat’s parent company from a consortium of private equity firms including Apax Partners and Apollo Management. Intelsat’s current owners will get $4.6 billion in cash and keep a 24 percent stake in Intelsat.