The former PanAmSat Corporation founded in 1984 by Reynold (Rene) Anselmo, was a satellite service provider headquartered in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It operated a fleet of

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

s used by the entertainment industry,

news agencies A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, ...

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

s, government agencies, and

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

companies. Anselmo got the idea for PanAmSat from Norm Leventhal, a communications lawyer in

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, to whom he had turned to for advice regarding difficulties he was encountering in getting reasonably priced satellite transmission for his

Spanish International Network Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

(SIN), the current-day

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

. Anselmo financed the entire project himself and Leventhal's law firm, hiring Martin Rothblatt for special satellite technical advice, filed for approval from the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) and lining up an initial satellite from RCA Astro-Electronics and a heavily discounted launch from

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...

. PanAmSat effectively broke the monopoly on international satellite communications which was held by INTELSAT, an international treaty-based organization founded and owned by several countries including the United States. PanAmSat, led by Anselmo, successfully lobbied the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

to permit it to operate globally, competing against INTELSAT. Univision would also gain a nationwide cable audience through PanAmSat's efforts, gaining a head start in Spanish-language television in the United States and remaining the #1 Spanish network to this day. Following the death of Rene Anselmo in 1995, his widow Mary Anselmo controlled the company for a time. PanAmSat was sold to

Hughes Electronics Hughes Electronics Corporation was formed in 1985 when Hughes Aircraft was sold by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to General Motors for $5.2 billion. The surviving parts of Hughes Electronics are today known as The DirecTV Group. On June 5, ...

, a division of General Motors, in a US$3 billion cash and stock deal. The satellite operations continued to be under PanAmSat with Hughes being the majority shareholder. In May 1997, Hughes Communication Galaxy merged with PanAmSat, adding 9 more satellites to its fleet. In 2003,

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

purchased Hughes Electronic's PanAmSat division and on 24 April 2004 sold PanAmSat to a consortium of

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firms in a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners for US$4.3 billion.

2004 leveraged buyout

KKR led the 2004 leveraged buyout by purchasing a 44% stake in the company. Carlyle and Providence each invested 27% with management representing the remainder of the equity. The consortium invested only US$550 million in equity, financing the remainder through bank loans and bonds. The transaction closed in August 2004. One month after the buyout, the company issued an additional US$250 million in discount notes which were used to pay the consortium

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...

s. Three months later, PanAmSat filed an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In an ironic twist of fate, its private equity owners sold PanAmSat to its archrival INTELSAT in August 2005 for a total of US$4.3 billion in a deal finally consummated in July 2006. At the time of its sale, PanAmSat was the world's leading carrier of TV channels. In combination with INTELSAT (which had also gone private under private equity ownership in 2000), the new company — called Intelsat — is the world's largest commercial satellite company, with 53 spacecraft serving over 200 countries, with nearly 1400 employees. In March 2007, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine estimated the net worth of Rene Anselmo's widow, Mary Anselmo at US$1 billion. Anselmo, 78, lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Satellite Fleet

References

External links

Official website

{{Intelsat Intelsat Communications satellite operators American companies established in 1984 Defunct companies based in Connecticut Defunct companies based in Washington, D.C. Private equity portfolio companies The Carlyle Group companies Wilton, Connecticut 2006 mergers and acquisitions