Intelsat US Administrative Headquarters: Photo: Intelsat

Intelsat has put forward an amended plan to pull the satellite operator out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with binding support from holders of nearly 75% of the company’s debt. 

If approved, this plan will cut Intelsat’s debt by more than half — from nearly $15 billion to $7 billion. In addition, Intelsat will no longer be a publicly traded company. 

“The amended plan provides that Intelsat will emerge as a private company, with the support of new equity owners, to best advance its strategic objectives and accelerate its growth trajectory, with a path to becoming publicly traded again at some point in the next five years,” Intelsat said in a Tuesday release.

Intelsat has filed the amended plan in its Chapter 11 proceedings pending before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. A hearing has been scheduled for September 1, 2021.

Intelsat has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since May 2020, when the company said it needed to financially restructure in order to fund C-band clearing in order to receive payment as part of the FCC’s process. The operator previously released a plan in February 2021 — that would have also cut its debt by half — but was not able to secure approval for the plan.