(Adds details)
LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A private equity consortium's $3.4
billion takeover of British satellite company Inmarsat
looked likely to go ahead after a group of hedge funds dropped
plans to challenge the sale at a hearing on Tuesday.
Their decision came after the buyers - British-based Apax
Partners, U.S.-based Warburg Pincus and the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board (CPPIB) - said on Monday they would not
increase or extend their offer.
Hedge funds Oaktree, Kite Lake and Rubric Capital wanted the
judge to block the takeover because they said the price did not
reflect the value of Inmarsat's contract with Ligado, a U.S.
broadband company that licenses some of the satellite group's
airwaves.
But Inmarsat's buyer on Monday made its offer final and said
it would not extend the Dec. 10 expiration date, in effect
closing the window for the challengers to win any concessions.
"Having considered our position carefully, we now no longer
intend to raise objections to the Scheme being sanctioned at the
Hearing," the hedge funds said on Tuesday.
Inmarsat's shareholders decisively backed the takeover in
May, with nearly 79% of shares voted in favour.
The hedge funds, led by Oaktree with a 2.85% stake, argued
that Ligado could be on the cusp of modifying its licence from
U.S. regulators, which could potentially trigger payments to
Inmarsat.
The satellite company, which provides communications for
aircraft, shipping and governments, said in November that the
prospect and timing of any revenue or other value from its
Ligado contract remained uncertain.
The climbdown by the hedge funds means the takeover
undertaken with a scheme of arrangement is likely to be rubber
stamped in the court meeting scheduled for Tuesday and
Wednesday.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton and Susan
Fenton)
