Sunil Mittal's Bharti Group Joins French Govt to Raise $1.55 bn for Starlink Rival Eutelsat

French satellite operator Eutelsat on Thursday announced plans to raise around $1.55 billion (€1.35 billion) in equity capital by the end of 2025, with support from its major stakeholders, including the French State (via APE), Bharti Space Limited, CMA CGM, and Le Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP).

The company aims to use the fresh funds to reduce debt and increase investment in satellite constellations, as it works to strengthen its role in the global space communications market, according to a release by Eutelsat.

The capital raise includes a €716 million Reserved Capital Increase and a €634 million Rights Issue. Under the Reserved Capital Increase, the French government (via APE) will provide €526.4 million, followed by Bharti Space Limited (€31.4 million), shipping major CMA CGM (€100.4 million), and FSP (€57.8 million). Post-transaction, the French State is expected to own 29.99%, Bharti Space Limited 18.70%, CMA CGM 7.81%, and FSP 5.22% of Eutelsat’s share capital and voting rights.

Bharti became a major investor in Eutelsat through its involvement with OneWeb, initially investing in the satellite broadband provider after it emerged from bankruptcy in 2020. In April 2021, Eutelsat acquired a 24% stake in OneWeb, where Bharti was already a key backer alongside the UK government. This paved the way for a full merger between Eutelsat and OneWeb, completed in 2023, creating the combined Eutelsat Group. As part of this consolidation, Bharti increased its stake and now holds around 24% of the merged entity. Later, the Bharti Group brought Eutelsat OneWeb to India to apply for a satcom licence and is now waiting for spectrum allocation to begin operations.

The European Starlink rival, Eutelsat, plans to use the capital raise to reduce its leverage to approximately 2.5x by the end of FY26. Eutelsat’s board has unanimously approved the plan, which also includes a debt refinancing programme to further optimise its capital structure, the company said.

“I am delighted that under the leadership of President Macron, the French State has decided to back Eutelsat as the European space champion and increased its shareholding by injecting a sizeable investment into the company," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder & Chairman, Bharti Enterprises & Co-Chairman of Eutelsat Group.

On X, French President Emmanuel Macron said that by strengthening Eutelsat’s position, France was “ensuring its strategic independence and paving the way for Europe’s.”

French Army Contract

On Thursday, Eutelsat also announced a 10-year deal with the French Armed Forces to provide priority-access space resources on its OneWeb LEO satellite constellation.

The 10-year framework agreement with France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces, announced earlier this week, is aimed at strengthening the integration of civilian and military assets under the Nexus programme. The deal, worth up to €1 billion, illustrates the strategic role of the LEO constellation in France’s model for sovereign defence and space communications.

"We are also thrilled to welcome the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and DGA as partners in a long-term €1 billion contract to reserve capacity on Eutelsat’s low-Earth orbit OneWeb constellation for mission-critical needs,” Mittal added.

A day after the announcement, Eutelsat's stock on the Euronext Paris stock exchange rose as much as 24% to €3.54.