Inmarsat set for a £1bn float

SATELLITE operator Inmarsat today revealed plans to launch its shares on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £1.09bn.

This will make paper millionaires of the management team led by Andrew Sukawaty, whose stake is expected to be worth about £12m.

Inmarsat's venture capitalist part-owners Apax and Permira will see the value of their 51% stake jump by millions from the £430m they paid for it less than two years ago.

Neither management nor the venture capitalists are making significant sales of their stakes. The float is intended solely to raise about £380m. Shares will be priced at between 215p and 245p when the final figure is set on 17 June.

The company operates 10 satellites used by television broadcasters, airlines and companies. It has a powerful niche providing infrastructure for hand-held phones used by the military and aid workers.

Inmarsat was spun out of the UN as an intergovernmental body created to use satellite technology for shipping safety.

JP Morgan Cazenove and Morgan Stanley are joint sponsors and are acting with Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lunch as book runners.