Amazon negotiates the purchase of Globalstar to compete with Starlink
Financial Times: e-commerce group reportedly working on a 9 billion deal for Apple's satellite services company
Amazon is in talks to buy the satellite telecommunications group Globalstar, with which it could accelerate its efforts to build up its low orbit satellite and catch up with Starlink of Elon Musk. This was reported by the Financial Times citing sources, according to which the deal would be worth $9 billion.
The shares of Globalstar, whose market value has more than doubled in the past year, soared 24% to $85 in after-hours trading. The company's market capitalisation stood at $8.81 billion at yesterday's close.
Globalstar, a company based in Covington, Louisiana, is known for its low earth orbit satellites. It offers voice, data and asset tracking services in the corporate, government and consumer markets. According to the service, Amazon and Globalstar are still negotiating some complex aspects of the deal after lengthy talks.
One complicating factor was Apple's 20 per cent stake in Globalstar which necessitated negotiations between the e-commerce company, which already controls Blue Origin, and Apple, according to the Financial Times. Globalstar did not immediately respond to the agencies' request for comment, while Amazon declined to comment. Bloomberg had reported in October that Globalstar was considering a potential sale and had initiated initial discussions with SpaceX itself among potential buyers.
