At SES headquarters in Betzdorf, the merger with Intelsat is no longer on the agenda. Photo: SES

At SES headquarters in Betzdorf, the merger with Intelsat is no longer on the agenda. Photo: SES

Before the opening of trading on Thursday morning, SES announced that discussions with Intelsat concerning a possible merger had been terminated.

Almost a year after the Financial Times reported that discussions had been initiated between Intelsat and SES, and almost three months after the Luxembourg telecoms operator , they have been put on hold, SES announced the morning of 22 June in a short press release.

Despite a barely perceptible rise in its share price following the announcement that discussions had been opened, the market did not seem to show any particular interest in this merger. Nor did some investors, who pointed to the difficulties in obtaining the go-ahead from the European regulator and the Luxembourg authorities, who would find it difficult to accept losing influence over the national flagship--especially now that the billions invested in US 5G and the are about to deliver their first targets.

The company announced in early June that  at the beginning of July. Since then, SES’s share price has fallen to below €5--an all-time low.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.