MUMBAI: Leading satellite service provider Intelsat today announced the completion of its $ 6.4 billion acquisition of rival PanAmSat.

The addition of PanAmSat's video market expertise, advanced satellite fleet and blue-chip media customer base makes the new Intelsat the largest provider of fixed satellite services (FSS) worldwide to each of the media, network services/telecom and government customer sectors.

Intelsat acquired all of the outstanding common shares of PanAmSat for approximately $3.2 billion. As a result of the merger, PanAmSat is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intelsat, and the common stock of PanAmSat has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The total value of the transaction, including PanAmSat debt that was refinanced or remained outstanding, is approximately $6.4 billion.

Using optimized capacity on a combined fleet of 51 satellites and a large, complementary terrestrial infrastructure including eight owned teleports, fiber connectivity and over 50 points of presence in almost 40 cities, the new Intelsat:

-- Carries one out of every four television channels transmitted over fixed satellites;

-- Supports 27 DTH platforms worldwide;

-- Operates 16 satellites that are part of video neighborhoods around the world;

-- Is the number one provider of transponders for video programming worldwide;

-- Carries more high definition (HD) programming than any other FSS carrier;

-- Is the largest provider of commercial satellite services to the government sector;

-- Is the leading provider of services to enterprise, Internet and mobile network operators; and

-- Provides communications services to 99 percent of the world's populated regions.