Intelsat Board Chair accused of insider trading in lawsuit satellitetoday.com

A class-action lawsuit has accused former Intelsat CEO and chairman of its board of directors, along with shareholders BC Partners and Silver Lake, of insider trading around the FCC’s decision in November 2019 to hold a public C-band auction.

Allegedly, they sold $246 million in stock at a 6.6% discount the same day they learned the FCC turned against a private auction for C-band spectrum. A private action could have generated upwards of $60 billion for two satellite companies, but in the end, FCC officials indicated they would push for a public auction. According to the lawsuit, with the $246 million sales, the defendants avoided $185 million in losses.

The FCC voted in February 2020 to hold a public C-band auction, with $9.7 billion in quick clearing incentive payments to satellite operators divided between Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat, Telesat, and Star One.

Intelsat later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2020, which is still ongoing.

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