Hispasat gets in higher orbit with agreement to acquire AXESS Networks

Just weeks after Spanish satellite-based communications operator Hispasat entered a joint venture to offer a high-capacity portable broadband system in North America and took the full share capital of Hispamar Satélites in Brazil, it has accelerated its growth with an agreement to acquire teleport operator and satellite services provider AXESS Networks.

Founded in 2019 from two well-established companies in Europe and Latin America, AXESS Networks provides turnkey solutions, operating teleports in Germany, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It currently has a team of more than 200, operating about 8,000 sites in more than 50 countries on four continents.

It has a broad customer base in industrial and corporate sectors related to telecommunications, oil and energy, and mining, among others, with critical operations in remote areas where service resilience and quality are extremely important.

For Hispasat, the acquisition of AXESS Networks is part of the actions defined in its 2020-25 Strategic Plan, which aims to transform the company into a satellite solutions and services provider in its target markets. This sees greater involvement of Hispasat in the managed services value chain in order to increase its proximity to customers and be able to adapt and quickly develop its products in a sector that is experiencing a major technological boom.

The acquisition implies a capital value of $96m for AXESS Networks and is designed not to affect the company’s activities. After closing the deal, it will maintain its operations, management, work teams and relations with customers and suppliers, while the agreement aims to allow Hispasat to optimise its offering in areas such as the extension of cellular networks via satellite, connectivity networks for corporate clients and the digitisation of remote areas in countries with large technological gaps.

It will also enhance the development of technology for emerging markets, such as the internet of things or satellite 5G networks. The advantages of the merger will be especially notable in Latin America, a region where both companies maintain a significant portion of their business.

“We are very pleased with the agreement reached with AXESS Networks, an action that responds to the increasingly essential collaboration among industry players with the aim of meeting society’s demands for connectivity,” said Miguel Ángel Panduro, CEO at Hispasat. “In recent years, several operations of this type have occurred in the sector and our partnership with AXESS Networks will provide us with optimum strategic positioning in two areas that have huge potential for growth in satellite communications – Latin America and the B2B solutions market.”

Mauricio Segovia, CEO at AXESS Networks, added: “The merger of AXESS Networks with Hispasat represents a major leap for the company, since it demonstrates great support from one of the industry’s most relevant players and it allows us to integrate and strengthen the joint value proposition towards our markets. With this operation, we begin to form part of a leader that creates trends in the market and whose projects have a clear social background.”