Assets and Ashes
The Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) owns 20% of SES S.A., and with a 33% voting share, it prevents any entity from owning more than 20% of the company. There’s more stock float out there, but you can’t buy it in the U.S. — Euronext Paris or Bourse de Luxembourg only, please. The stock seems to be doing well lately, so everybody’s happy. Will they ever sell? Don’t think so.
Chris Forrester is reporting they’ll hold on to it.
The Luxembourg state has no intention of selling its stake, including its so-called ‘golden share’, in satellite operator SES.
The emphatic statement came from Luxembourg’s culture minister Francois Biltgen, who told guests at the SES Astra 25th Anniversary celebrations, that the Luxembourg state did not regret having become the reference shareholder all those years ago. Luxembourg holds a 16.67% economic interest, and 33.33% of the voting rights.
CEO Romain Bausch, an astute financier, sees the SES mission as more socially responsible, positioning its reinvestment in the business as more socially responsible — especially when it comes to emerging markets — declaring “Come hell or high water (or volcanic ash), we will continue to do what we do best: connect people and businesses through the power of satellites.”
I wonder whether they’ll lower their profit expectations when pricing is established for the O3b Networks system. Remember IP-PRIME? That IPTV service wasn’t paying off quickly enough and was, in my opinion, prematurely decommissioned.
So, what’s their motto? (I don’t know, what’s the motto with you? heh-heh)
"Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn" (Luxembourgish) "We want to remain what we are."
Hey, whatever. They’ve got a launch coming up on Saturday. Go SES-1!
