Photo: PSMA Australia

The Australian Government’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) told Viasat and Inmarsat that it will not raise objections to their planned merge, giving the operators a critical voice of approval along with recently acquired approvals in the United Kingdom and United States.

FIRB’s clearance of Viasat’s proposed acquisition of Inmarsat falls under the nation’s Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act of 1975.

“Australia is an international market that is key to global advances and innovation in mobility,” Inmarsat CEO Rajeev Suri said in a statement. “Their approval brings us one step closer to being even better placed to invest in the technologies required to compete in a fast-changing global satellite communications market undergoing profound changes.”

Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg added, “Australia is well advanced as a space-faring nation and we are excited about the significant opportunities to support the growth of the Australian space sector, given the increased resources, unity of purpose and broader coverage the joint entity will have.”

The two operators announced a definitive agreement to combine in November 2021. The transaction was valued at $7.3 billion, comprised of $850.0 million in cash, approximately 46.36 million shares of Viasat common stock valued at $3.1 billion based on the closing price on Friday November 5, 2021, and the assumption of $3.4 billion of net debt.

The merge is not without its critics. Though Viasat and Inmarsat received approval from the U.K. government in terms of the National Security and Investment Act, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released a statement earlier this month  that a study it conducted showed the merger might lessen competitiveness in the in-flight connectivity (IFC) market in the U.K. Both operators said they were cooperating with the CMA to ease market competition fears.