Intelsat, SES at Odds in Bankruptcy Court Over C-Band Clearing Payment Distribution

Intelsat and SES are clashing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court over Intelsat's proposed plan for emergence from Chapter 11 and how the C-band clearing accelerated relocation payments should be allocated. Intelsat told the FCC International Bureau last week that court confirmation of the reorganization plan should follow a Dec. 2 hearing, per a docket 21-375 ex parte post. In favor of its motion to intervene, SES said Intelsat U.S., in line for only 4.5% of the relocation payments going to Intelsat, is clearly not protecting company interests and is trying to channel those payments from the U.S operations to other Intelsat entities. Those relocation payments "represent the most valuable asset in Debtors’ entire enterprise," SES said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court docket 20-32299 (in Pacer). Intelsat said (in Pacer) the plan reduces its debt by more than $7 billion and provides "the liquidity to implement a value-maximizing business plan." It said the argument that entities other than the ones that own Intelsat's FCC licenses are entitled to accelerated relocation payments is "flimsy." It said the FCC removed any ambiguity earlier this month when it ordered that the license holder had validated Phase I of the relocation and was to receive relocation payments.