PR84655

LONDON, July 3, 2020/PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

- A consortium of Her Majesty's Government (HMG) (through the UK Secretary of

State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and Bharti Global Limited

have committed to provide more than USD$1 billion to acquire OneWeb and fund

the full restart of its business operations.

- OneWeb will look to resume operations as soon as possible and continue with

progress towards providing global high-speed, low latency connectivity via its

state-of-the-art satellite constellation.

- Agreement remains subject to approval by OneWeb's creditors, the Bankruptcy

Court, and applicable regulators, with completion expected by the fourth

quarter of 2020.

OneWeb, the communications company whose mission is to bring connectivity to

governments, businesses, and people everywhere, announced today that it has

entered into an agreement with a consortium led by HMG (through the UK

Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy) and Bharti

Global Limited ("Bharti") for the acquisition of the OneWeb business in

connection with its court-supervised sale process. The bid is designed to

capitalise the company sufficiently as a going concern to effectuate the full

end-to-end deployment of the OneWeb system.

Following a competitive process, the consortium's winning bid represents a

strong offer that will enable OneWeb to successfully emerge from the Chapter 11

process with a robust foundation on which to continue its progress towards

commercial operations and secure OneWeb's position as a global leader in low

latency connectivity.

The consortium brings immediate commercial value to OneWeb. Bharti, through

Bharti Airtel, is the third largest mobile operator in the world, with over 425

million customers. Bharti Airtel has its own extensive mobile broadband

networks and enterprise business, which will act as the testing ground for all

OneWeb products, services, and applications. Bharti will contribute significant

contract value to OneWeb through its presence across South Asia and Sub-Saharan

Africa, where the terrain necessitates the use of satellite-based connectivity,

providing a near-term anchor customer for large-scale global deployment of

OneWeb's services.

The commitment of HMG accelerates and enhances OneWeb's global access. OneWeb

will contribute to the UK government's ambition to join the first rank of space

nations, along with its commitment to making the UK the world's leader in

science and research and development.

OneWeb remains ready to continue building its communications system to deliver

transformative connectivity available everywhere including to businesses and

people in remote and rural parts of the world, starting with the Arctic, while

also maintaining a strong corporate purpose to do good through its

communications and other services.

OneWeb has always believed that its system has tremendous potential. Demand for

a new mix of connectivity services has been underscored during the pandemic,

increasing the urgency through which businesses, people, communities must

connect and operate.

Adrian Steckel, CEO of OneWeb commented: "We are delighted to have concluded

the sale process with such a positive outcome that will benefit not only

OneWeb's existing creditors, but also our employees, vendors, commercial

partners, and supporters worldwide who believe in the mission and in the

promise of global connectivity. The combination of HMG and Bharti will bring

immediate value as we develop as a global leader in low latency connectivity.

This successful outcome for OneWeb underscores the confidence in our business,

technology, and the work of our entire team. With differentiated and flexible

technology, unique spectrum assets and a compelling market opportunity ahead of

us, we are eager to conclude the process and get back to launching our

satellites as soon as possible."

The transaction remains subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, as

well as regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The transaction

is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2020. In the meantime, the

purchasing consortium will work with the OneWeb management team to further

develop the strategy and business plan and to resume the Company's launch

schedule.

Additional information about the Company's Chapter 11 cases can be found at

http://www.omniagentsolutions.com/onewebglobal, or by calling the Company's

claims agent at 1-866-680-8121.

Milbank LLP is serving as OneWeb's legal counsel, FTI Consulting is serving as

its restructuring advisor, and Guggenheim Securities, LLC is serving as its

investment banker.

HMG is advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Lazard Ltd. Bharti is advised

by Herbert Smith Freehills LLP  and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.

About OneWeb

OneWeb's vision is to enable Internet access for governments, businesses and

people everywhere. It is implementing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit

satellites with a network of global gateway stations and a range of user

terminals to provide an affordable, fast, high-bandwidth and low-latency

communications service, connected to the IoT future and a pathway to 5G for

everyone, everywhere.

Find out more at http://www.oneweb.world 

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SOURCE: OneWeb