WASHINGTON — Spanish satellite operator Hispasat is open to more acquisitions that vertically integrate its business after buying managed services provider AXESS Networks, according to its CEO Miguel Panduro.
Hispasat said March 21 it has agreed to acquire AXESS Networks in a deal valuing the company at $96 million.
From its headquarters in Spain, AXESS Networks operates four main teleports in Germany, Mexico, Colombia and Saudi Arabia. The company also has two smaller backup teleports in Dubai and Peru.
In addition to expanding Hispasat’s geographical presence, Panduro said the deal “doubles its workforce” to around 400 people and broadens the company’s customer base across telecoms, energy, mining and other sectors.
The acquisition brings Hispasat closer to end-users as a solutions and services provider amid rapid technological change in the industry, according to the satellite operator, and is part of a 2020-2025 growth plan the company launched after its sale to Spanish power company Red Eléctrica in 2019.
Panduro told SpaceNews that this strategy plan is ongoing, although it is being updated to reflect future market needs following the deal, “so we remain open to new inorganic operations” as part of its expansion into the managed services value chain.
“Our industry has changed a lot in the recent years,” he said in an email.
“We are obliged to adapt to the new demands of the market or we will disappear. Therefore, if a few years ago we lived well in a system based on competition, now we are condemned to cooperate with each other to be as strong as possible in our target markets.”
He added that Hispasat is in “constant conversations with companies in the sector and, if we consider that it is necessary to undertake a new inorganic operation, we will do so.”
According to Hispasat, acquiring AXESS Networks also enables it to optimize services for extending cellular networks via satellites, products for enterprise customers and emerging markets that include networks that connect Internet of Things (IoT) devices.