1.   

On 9 January 2023, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 and following a referral pursuant to Article 22 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	Viasat, Inc. (‘Viasat’, US),

—	Inmarsat Group Holdings Limited (‘Inmarsat’, UK), controlled by Connect Topco Limited (‘Connect Topco’, Guernsey).

Viasat will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of Inmarsat.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

The concentration has been referred to the Commission by the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission (‘CNMC’) pursuant to Article 22(3) of the Merger Regulation. The referral was subsequently joined by Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania and Sweden.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:

—	for Viasat: publicly-listed company which provides two-way satellite-based communications services globally, and owns and operates 4 geostationary earth orbit satellites. Viasat has three core business segments: satellite services, commercial networks, and government systems,

—	for Inmarsat: privately-held company which offers two-way satellite-based communications services globally, and owns and operates 15 geostationary earth orbit satellites. Inmarsat is organised into four business unit: maritime, government, aviation, and enterprise.

3.   

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

4.   

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:

M.10807 – VIASAT/INMARSAT

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË