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Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration Nos. 333-178684
333-178684-01 through 333-178684-39

PROSPECTUS

Exchange Offer for

7¹/₄% Senior Notes due 2019

and

7¹/₂% Senior Notes due 2021

 

 

This is an offer to exchange any of Intelsat Jackson Holdings S.A.’s 7 ¹/₄% Senior Notes due 2019 that you now hold for newly issued 7 ¹/₄% Senior Notes due 2019, and to exchange any of Intelsat Jackson Holdings S.A.’s 7 ¹/₂% Senior Notes due 2021 that you now hold for newly issued 7 ¹/₂% Senior Notes due 2021. The new notes will be issued under an indenture dated as of April 5, 2011. This offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 2, 2012, unless we extend the offer. You must tender your original notes by this deadline in order to receive the new notes. We do not currently intend to extend the expiration date.

The exchange of outstanding original notes for new notes in the exchange offer will not constitute a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The terms of the new notes to be issued in the exchange offer are substantially identical to the original notes, except that the new notes will be freely tradeable and will not benefit from the registration and related rights pursuant to which we are conducting this exchange offer. All untendered original notes will continue to be subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth in the original notes and in the indenture.

There is no existing public market for your original notes, and there is currently no public market for the new notes to be issued to you in the exchange offer.

 

 

Before participating in this exchange offer, please refer to the section in this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors ” commencing on page 19.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

This prospectus has been prepared on the basis that this exchange offer in any Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each a “Relevant Member State”) will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of securities. Accordingly, any person making or intending to make any offer in that Relevant Member State of notes which are the subject of the offer contemplated in this prospectus, may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for the Issuer to produce a prospectus for such offer pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive in relation to such offer. The Issuer has not authorized, nor does it authorize, the making of any exchange offer in circumstances in which an obligation arises for the Issuer to publish a prospectus for such offer.

In relation to each Relevant Member State with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that Relevant Member State (the “Relevant Implementation Date”), no exchange offer of notes to the public will be made in that Relevant Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the notes which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that with effect from and including the Relevant Implementation Date, an exchange offer of notes to the public in that Relevant Member State may be made at any time:

 

(a)

to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive;

 

(b)

to fewer than 100 or, if the Relevant Member State has implemented the relevant provision of the 2010 PD Amending Directive, 150, natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), as permitted under the Prospectus Directive subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives of the Issuer for any such offer; or

 

(c)

in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive

provided that no such offer of notes shall require the Issuer to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of notes to the public” in relation to any notes in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the notes to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe the notes, as the same may be varied in that Relevant Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Relevant Member State, the expression Prospectus Directive means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive, to the extent implemented in the Relevant Member State), and includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State and the expression “2010 PD Amending Directive” means Directive 2010/73/EU.

 

 

The date of this prospectus is December 29, 2011.

 

 

 

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You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with additional or different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are offering to exchange the notes only in jurisdictions where these offers and exchanges are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		Page
Industry and Market Data			ii
Prospectus Summary			1
Risk Factors			19
Forward-Looking Statements			38
Service of Process and Enforcement of Liabilities			40
Use of Proceeds			41
Capitalization			42
Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data			43
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations			47
Business			93
Management			122
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence			146
Principal Shareholders			149
Description of Other Indebtedness			151
Description of Notes			157
Book-Entry Delivery and Form			219
The Exchange Offer			222
Taxation			232
Certain ERISA Considerations			239
Plan of Distribution			241
Legal Matters			242
Experts			242
Where You Can Find More Information			242
Index to Financial Statements			F-1

Intelsat Jackson Holdings S.A.’s 7¹/₄% Senior Notes due 2019 are referred to as the “2019 notes” and Intelsat Jackson Holdings S.A.’s 7¹/₂% Senior Notes due 2021 are referred to as the “2021 notes.” The 2019 notes and the 2021 notes are together referred to as the “notes.” The term “original notes” refers to the 2019 notes and the 2021 notes that were issued on April 5, 2011 in a private offering. Unless we indicate differently, when we use the term “notes” or “new notes” in this prospectus, we mean the new notes that we will issue to you if you exchange your original notes. However, unless we indicate differently, references to “notes” for periods prior to the exchange of the applicable original notes for corresponding new notes means the applicable original notes.

 

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INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA

This prospectus includes information with respect to market share and industry conditions from third-party sources, public filings and based upon our estimates using such sources when available. While we believe that such information and estimates are reasonable and reliable, we have not independently verified the data from third-party sources, including World Demand for Commercial Satellite Communications by the U.S. Government and Military Markets, dated September 2010, by Frost & Sullivan; Broadband Satellite Markets, 10^th Edition, dated April 2011, by NSR; Mobile Satellite Services, 7^th Edition, dated June 2011, by NSR; Global Assessment of Satellite Demand, 8^th Edition, dated November 2011, by NSR; and Wireless Backhaul via Satellite, 5^th Edition, dated September 2011, by NSR. Similarly, our internal research is based upon our understanding of industry conditions, and such information has not been verified by independent sources. Specifically, when we refer to the relative size, regions served, number of customers contracted, experience and financial performance of our business as compared to other companies in our sector, our assertions are based upon public filings of other operators and comparisons provided by third-party sources, as outlined above.

Throughout this prospectus, unless otherwise indicated, references to market positions are based on third-party market research. If a market position or statement as to industry conditions is based on internal research, it is identified as management’s belief. Throughout this prospectus, unless otherwise indicated, statements as to our relative positions as a provider of services to customers and markets are based upon our market share. For additional information regarding our market share with respect to our customer sets, services and markets, and the bases upon which we determine our market share, see “Business.”

 

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RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below before deciding to invest in the notes. The risks described below are not the only ones that we may face. Additional risks that are not currently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial may also impair our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Risk Factors Relating to Our Indebtedness and the Notes

If you do not elect to exchange your original notes for new notes, you will hold securities that are not registered and that contain restrictions on transfer.

The original notes that are not tendered and exchanged will remain restricted securities. If the exchange offer is completed, we will not be required to register any remaining original notes, except in the very limited circumstances described in the registration rights agreement for the original notes. That means that if you wish to offer, sell, pledge or otherwise transfer your original notes at some future time, they may be offered, sold, pledged or transferred only if an exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 is available or, outside of the United States, to non-U.S. persons in accordance with the requirements of Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933 or in accordance with exemptions under the Prospectus Directive. Any remaining original notes will bear a legend restricting transfer in the absence of registration or an exemption from registration.

We have a substantial amount of indebtedness, which may adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to operate our business, remain in compliance with debt covenants and make payments on our indebtedness, including the notes.

As of September 30, 2011, excluding our New Dawn joint venture, (a) the Issuer and its subsidiaries had approximately $10.2 billion principal amount of total third-party indebtedness on a consolidated basis, approximately $3.3 billion of which was secured debt, (b) Intelsat Luxembourg had approximately $15.5 billion principal amount of total third-party indebtedness on a consolidated basis, approximately $3.3 billion of which was secured debt and (c) Intelsat S.A. had approximately $15.9 billion principal amount of total third-party indebtedness on a consolidated basis, approximately $3.3 billion of which was secured debt.

The indentures and credit agreements governing a substantial portion of the outstanding debt of Intelsat Luxembourg, Intelsat Jackson, Intermediate Holdco and Intelsat Sub Holdco and their respective subsidiaries permit each of these companies to make payments to their respective direct and indirect parent companies to fund the cash interest payments on such indebtedness, so long as no default or event of default shall have occurred and be continuing or would occur as a consequence thereof.

Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences to you. For example, it could:

 

•

make it more difficult for us to satisfy obligations with respect to indebtedness, including the notes, and any failure to comply with the obligations of any of our debt instruments, including financial and other restrictive covenants, could result in an event of default under the indenture governing the notes and the agreements governing such other indebtedness;

 

•

require us to dedicate a substantial portion of available cash flow to pay principal and interest on our outstanding debt, which will reduce the funds available for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

 

•

limit flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

•

limit our ability to engage in strategic transactions or implement our respective business strategies;

 

•

limit our ability to borrow additional funds; and

 

•

place us at a disadvantage compared to any competitors that have less debt.

 

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Any of the factors listed above could materially and adversely affect our business and our results of operations. Furthermore, our interest expense could increase if interest rates rise because certain portions of our debt bear interest at floating rates. If we do not have sufficient cash flow to service our debt, we may be required to refinance all or part of our existing debt, sell assets, borrow more money or sell securities, none of which we can guarantee we will be able to do.

We may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness in the future. Although the indentures governing our existing notes and the notes offered hereby, the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements and other agreements governing our indebtedness contain restrictions on the incurrence of certain additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of important qualifications and exceptions, and the indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. If we incur new indebtedness, the related risks, including those described above, could intensify.

The Issuer is a holding company with no independent operations or assets. Repayment of our debt, including the notes, is dependent on cash flow generated by our subsidiaries and these notes are subject to a cross-default if we default on certain of our obligations.

The Issuer is a holding company, and all of our satellites are owned by its indirect subsidiaries. The Issuer’s direct parent company, Intelsat Luxembourg, and indirect parent company, Intelsat S.A., are also holding companies and have outstanding indebtedness. Repayment of the Issuer’s indebtedness, including the notes, is dependent on the generation of cash flow by the Issuer’s subsidiaries. Some of the Issuer’s subsidiaries have a substantial amount of indebtedness and their ability to make cash available to the Issuer, by dividend, debt repayment or otherwise, depends on compliance with certain covenants, including the requirement that, subject to limited exceptions, each of Intermediate Holdco and Intelsat Sub Holdco may pay dividends to its parent only if it can incur $1 of additional debt under the debt incurrence covenant contained in such company’s debt instruments. Likewise, payment on indebtedness of Intelsat Luxembourg and Intelsat S.A. is dependent on the Issuer’s ability to make payments to Intelsat Luxembourg and Intelsat S.A. because Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg currently have no subsidiaries other than the Issuer and its subsidiaries (other than Intelsat Management LLC, Intelsat S.A.’s direct subsidiary).

Unless they are guarantors of the notes, the Issuer’s subsidiaries do not have any obligation to pay amounts due on the notes or to make funds available for that purpose. The Issuer’s subsidiaries may not be able to, or be permitted to, make distributions to enable the Issuer to make payments in respect of its indebtedness, including the notes, or to enable Intelsat Luxembourg or Intelsat S.A. to make payments in respect of their respective indebtedness, including their guarantees of the notes. Each of the Issuer’s subsidiaries is a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit the Issuer’s ability to obtain cash from its subsidiaries. While the indenture governing the notes limits the ability of the Issuer’s subsidiaries to incur consensual restrictions on their ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany payments to the Issuer, these limitations are subject to certain qualifications and exceptions. If the Issuer does not receive distributions from its subsidiaries, the Issuer may be unable to make required principal and interest payments on its indebtedness, including the notes. Additionally, the Issuer may not be able to make distributions required to service the indebtedness of Intelsat Luxembourg and Intelsat S.A. If Intelsat Luxembourg or Intelsat S.A. defaults on certain of its obligations, a cross-default under the indenture governing the notes may occur.

In addition, notwithstanding the fact that the Issuer will not guarantee or otherwise agree to be liable for the indebtedness of Intelsat Luxembourg or Intelsat S.A., no assurance can be given that a court or other tribunal in a bankruptcy or similar proceeding would not seek to “substantively consolidate” the estates of the Issuer, Intelsat Luxembourg and Intelsat S.A. “Substantive consolidation” would effectively merge the assets and liabilities of affiliated entities, such as Intelsat Luxembourg, Intelsat S.A. and the Issuer, in bankruptcy so that they will be treated as though held and incurred by one entity. If a bankruptcy court were to reach such a finding, the notes offered hereby by the Issuer would no longer be “structurally senior” to any indebtedness of Intelsat Luxembourg and Intelsat S.A.

 

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To service our third-party indebtedness, we will require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control, and any failure to meet our third-party debt service obligations could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As of September 30, 2011, excluding our New Dawn joint venture, the Issuer’s and its subsidiaries’ estimated payment obligations with respect to their indebtedness for the next twelve months are comprised of approximately $56.9 million of principal payments and approximately $705.5 million of interest payments, excluding payments related to satellite performance incentives due to satellite manufacturers.

As of September 30, 2011, excluding our New Dawn joint venture, Intelsat Luxembourg’s and its subsidiaries’ estimated payment obligations with respect to their indebtedness for the next twelve months are comprised of approximately $56.9 million of principal payments and approximately $1.3 billion of interest payments (assuming that Intelsat Luxembourg elects to pay cash interest on the PIK Notes for all future periods), excluding payments related to satellite performance incentives due to satellite manufacturers.

As of September 30, 2011, excluding our New Dawn joint venture, estimated payment obligations with respect to the third-party indebtedness of Intelsat S.A. and its subsidiaries for the next twelve months, which include the payment obligations of Intelsat Luxembourg, Intelsat Jackson, Intermediate Holdco and Intelsat Sub Holdco and their subsidiaries, are comprised of approximately $56.9 million of principal payments and approximately $1.3 billion of interest payments (assuming that Intelsat Luxembourg elects to pay cash interest on the PIK Notes for all future periods), excluding payments related to satellite performance incentives due to satellite manufacturers.

Each of Intelsat S.A.’s and its subsidiaries’ ability to pay interest on and principal of their notes and our ability to satisfy our other debt obligations will depend principally upon our future operating performance. As a result, prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, will affect our ability to make payments on our indebtedness. If we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to satisfy our debt service obligations, including payments on the notes, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our indebtedness, selling assets, reducing or delaying capital investments or seeking to raise additional capital. Our ability to restructure or refinance our debt will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any refinancing of our debt could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations. In addition, the terms of existing or future debt instruments, including the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements and the indentures governing our existing notes and the notes offered hereby, may restrict us from adopting some of these alternatives. Furthermore, the New Sponsors have no obligation to provide us with debt or equity financing in the future. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt service obligations, including the Issuer’s inability to service the notes offered hereby or its other debt obligations, or to refinance our obligations on commercially reasonable terms, would have an adverse effect, which could be material, on our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows, as well as on the Issuer’s and its subsidiaries’ ability to satisfy their obligations in respect of their respective notes.

The terms of the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements, the indentures governing our existing notes and the notes offered hereby and the terms of our other indebtedness may restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes in our business or to take certain actions.

The Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements, the indentures governing our existing notes and the notes offered hereby and our other outstanding indebtedness contain, and any future indebtedness of ours would likely contain, a number of restrictive covenants imposing significant operating and financial restrictions on Intelsat S.A. and some or all of its subsidiaries, including restrictions that may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interests. The Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement includes two financial covenants. Intelsat Jackson must maintain a

 

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consolidated secured debt to consolidated EBITDA ratio of less than or equal to 3.50 to 1.00 at the end of each fiscal quarter as well as a consolidated EBITDA to consolidated interest expense ratio of greater than or equal to 1.75 to 1.00 at the end of each fiscal quarter, in each case as such financial measures are defined in the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement.

In addition, the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement requires Intelsat Jackson to use a portion of the proceeds of certain asset sales, in excess of a specified amount, that are not reinvested in its business to repay indebtedness under such facilities.

The Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements, the indentures governing our existing notes and the notes offered hereby and our other outstanding indebtedness include covenants restricting, among other things, the ability of Intelsat S.A. and its subsidiaries to:

 

•

incur or guarantee additional debt or issue disqualified stock;

 

•

pay dividends (including to fund cash interest payments at different entity levels), or make redemptions, repurchases or distributions, with respect to ordinary shares or capital stock;

 

•

create or incur certain liens;

 

•

make certain loans or investments;

 

•

engage in mergers, acquisitions, amalgamations, asset sales and sale and leaseback transactions; and

 

•

engage in transactions with affiliates.

These covenants are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions. The operating and financial restrictions and covenants in our existing debt agreements and any future financing agreements may adversely affect our ability to finance future operations or capital needs or to engage in other business activities. A breach of any of the restrictive covenants in the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement could result in a default under such agreement. If any such default occurs, the lenders under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement may elect to declare all outstanding borrowings, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable, enforce their security interest or require us to apply all available cash to repay these borrowings. If this occurred under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, this would result in an event of default under our existing notes, the notes offered hereby, and the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements. The lenders under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement will also have the right in these circumstances to terminate any commitments they have to fund further borrowings. If Intelsat Jackson was unable to repay outstanding borrowings when due, the lenders under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement would have the right to proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure the debt owed to them. If the debt under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement were to be accelerated, our assets might not be sufficient to repay such debt in full or to repay the notes and our other debt.

The notes and the guarantees will be effectively subordinated to any secured debt of the Issuer and its subsidiaries.

The notes and the guarantees are the Issuer’s and the guarantors’ unsecured obligations. Holders of any existing or future secured debt of the Issuer will have claims that are prior to your claims as holders of the notes to the extent of the value of the assets securing that other debt. Additionally, the indentures governing our existing notes and the notes offered hereby, the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement and the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements permit us and/or our subsidiaries to incur additional indebtedness, including secured indebtedness, under certain circumstances. The notes are effectively subordinated to any such additional secured debt that the Issuer or its subsidiaries may incur to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such debt.

 

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Value should not be assigned to the guarantees of the notes provided by Intelsat S.A. or Intelsat Luxembourg and you should not expect Intelsat S.A. or Intelsat Luxembourg to participate in making any payments in respect of the notes or the guarantees.

The notes will be guaranteed by Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg, but you should not assign any value to such guarantees. Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg are holding companies, the only assets of which are the shares of their respective direct wholly-owned subsidiaries. These entities are dependent for the service of their indebtedness on the ability of the Issuer and its subsidiaries to generate cash flow and make this cash available to Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg, as the case may be, by dividend, distribution, loan or otherwise. The covenants in the indenture governing the notes apply only to the Issuer and certain of its subsidiaries and do not apply to any direct or indirect parent of the Issuer, including Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg. As noted elsewhere in these “Risk Factors” and in this prospectus, Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg currently have a substantial amount of indebtedness (including guarantees of subsidiary indebtedness) outstanding. Any direct or indirect parent of the Issuer, including Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg, may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, and the indenture governing the notes does not prohibit any such entity from doing so. If any additional indebtedness is incurred by any of these parent entities, the risks of servicing the indebtedness of these parent entities will be magnified. Finally, the indenture governing the notes provides that the guarantees provided by Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg may be released at any time at our option.

The notes and the guarantees will be structurally subordinated to all of the liabilities of the Issuer’s subsidiaries that are not guarantors, and the assets of the Issuer’s non-guarantor subsidiaries may not be available to make payments on the notes.

Not all of the Issuer’s subsidiaries will be required to guarantee the notes. If any non-guarantor subsidiary becomes insolvent, liquidates, reorganizes, dissolves or otherwise winds up, holders of its indebtedness and its trade creditors generally will be entitled to payment on their claims from the assets of that subsidiary before any of those assets are made available to the Issuer. Consequently, claims in respect of the notes will be structurally subordinated to all of the liabilities of the Issuer’s non-guarantor subsidiaries, including trade payables, and any claims of third-party holders of preferred equity interests, if any, in the Issuer’s non-guarantor subsidiaries. All obligations of our non-guarantor subsidiaries will have to be satisfied before any of the assets of such subsidiaries would be available for distribution, upon a liquidation or otherwise, to us or a guarantor of the notes.

None of the subsidiaries comprising our New Dawn joint venture will guarantee the notes. You should not expect these subsidiaries to participate in making any payments in respect of the notes.

Enforcing your rights as a holder of the notes or under the guarantees across multiple jurisdictions may be difficult.

The Issuer, Intelsat S.A., Intelsat Luxembourg and certain of our subsidiaries are Luxembourg companies. Also, guarantees will be granted by companies located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Gibraltar, and other jurisdictions and in the jurisdiction of organization of any other existing or future guarantor of the notes. In the event of bankruptcy, insolvency or a similar event, proceedings could be initiated in any of these jurisdictions. Your rights under the notes and the guarantees could therefore be subject to the laws of multiple jurisdictions, and you may not be able to enforce effectively your rights in multiple jurisdictions. Moreover, multi-jurisdictional proceedings are typically complex and costly for creditors and often result in substantial uncertainty and delay in the enforcement of creditors’ rights. Treaties may not exist in all cases for the recognition of the enforcement of a judgment or order of a foreign court.

In addition, the bankruptcy, insolvency, foreign exchange, administration and other laws of the various jurisdictions may be materially different from or in conflict with one another and those of the United States, including in respect of creditors’ rights, priority of creditors, the ability to obtain post-petition interest and the duration of the insolvency proceeding. The consequences of the multiple jurisdictions involved in the transaction could trigger disputes over which jurisdiction’s law should apply which could adversely affect your ability to enforce your rights and to collect payment in full under the notes and the guarantees.

 

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U.S. federal and state statutes and Luxembourg laws allow courts, under specific circumstances, to void the notes and the guarantees, subordinate claims in respect of the notes and the guarantees and require noteholders to return payments received from the Issuer or the guarantors.

Certain of the Issuer’s subsidiaries will guarantee the obligations under the notes. Additionally, the Issuer’s direct and indirect parent companies, Intelsat Luxembourg and Intelsat S.A., will guarantee the notes. The Issuer’s issuance of the notes and the issuance of the guarantees by the subsidiary guarantors may be subject to review under U.S. federal and state laws if a bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization case or a lawsuit, including in circumstances in which bankruptcy is not involved, were commenced at some future date by, or on behalf of, our unpaid creditors or the unpaid creditors of a guarantor. Under the federal bankruptcy laws and comparable provisions of state fraudulent transfer laws, a court may void or otherwise decline to enforce the notes or a subsidiary guarantor’s guarantee, or may subordinate the notes or such guarantee to our or the applicable subsidiary guarantor’s existing and future indebtedness. While the relevant laws may vary from state to state, a court might do so if it found that when the notes were issued or when the applicable subsidiary guarantor entered into its guarantee, or, in some states, when payments became due under the notes or such guarantee, the Issuer or the applicable subsidiary guarantor received less than reasonably equivalent value or fair consideration and either:

 

•

was insolvent or rendered insolvent by reason of such incurrence; or

 

•

was engaged in a business or transaction for which its remaining assets constituted unreasonably small capital; or

 

•

intended to incur, or believed that it would incur, debts beyond its ability to pay such debts as they mature.

A court would likely find that the Issuer or a subsidiary guarantor did not receive reasonably equivalent value or fair consideration for the notes or such guarantee if the Issuer or such subsidiary guarantor did not substantially benefit directly or indirectly from the issuance of the notes. A Luxembourg court may conduct a similar review and although Luxembourg law may differ from U.S. federal and state laws, a Luxembourg court could nevertheless come to the same or a similar conclusion.

The measures of insolvency for purposes of these fraudulent transfer laws vary depending upon the law applied in any proceeding to determine whether a fraudulent transfer has occurred. Generally, however, the Issuer or a subsidiary guarantor, as applicable, would be considered insolvent if:

 

•

the sum of its debts, including contingent liabilities, was greater than the fair saleable value of its assets; or

 

•

the present fair saleable value of its assets was less than the amount that would be required to pay its probable liability on its existing debts, including contingent liabilities, as they become absolute and mature; or

 

•

it could not pay its debts as they become due.

A court might also void the notes or a guarantee, without regard to the above factors, if the court found that the notes were issued or the applicable subsidiary guarantor entered into its guarantee with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud its creditors. In addition, under applicable U.S. federal and state laws and applicable Luxembourg laws any payment by the Issuer or a guarantor pursuant to the notes or its guarantee could be voided and required to be returned to the Issuer or such guarantor or to a fund for the benefit of the Issuer’s or such guarantor’s creditors, and accordingly the court might direct you to repay any amounts that you had already received from the Issuer or such subsidiary guarantor. Luxembourg insolvency law may affect transactions entered into or payments made by the Issuer or the Luxembourg guarantors during the period before liquidation

 

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or administration. If the liquidator or administrator in a Luxembourg proceeding can show the Issuer or the Luxembourg guarantors have given “preference” to any person by defrauding the rights of creditors generally, regardless of when this fraud occurred, a Luxembourg court has the power, among other things, to void the preferential transaction. If the liquidator or administrator can show that a payment was made during the so-called suspect period (période suspecte) (which is generally a maximum of six months and ten days preceding the judgment declaring bankruptcy) that is disadvantageous to the general body of creditors and the party receiving such payment is shown to have known that the bankrupt party had generally stopped making payments when such payment occurred, a Luxembourg court has the power, among other things, to void the preferential transaction.

To the extent a court voids the notes or any of the guarantees as fraudulent transfers or holds the notes or any of the guarantees unenforceable for any other reason, holders of notes would cease to have any direct claim against the Issuer or the applicable subsidiary guarantor. If a court were to take this action, the Issuer’s or the applicable guarantor’s assets would be applied first to satisfy the Issuer’s or the applicable guarantor’s liabilities, if any, before any portion of its assets could be applied to the payment of the notes. Sufficient funds to repay the notes may not be available from other sources, including the remaining guarantors, if any.

Each subsidiary guarantee will contain a provision intended to limit the guarantor’s liability to the maximum amount that it could incur without causing the incurrence of obligations under its guarantee to be a fraudulent transfer. This provision may not be effective to protect the guarantees from being voided under applicable fraudulent transfer laws or may reduce the guarantor’s obligation to an amount that effectively makes the guarantee worthless.

The value of the guarantee of the notes by Luxembourg, Gibraltar and English entities may be limited by applicable Luxembourg, Gibraltar and English law affecting the rights of creditors.

Some of the guarantors are organized or existing under Luxembourg, Gibraltar or English law. Under Luxembourg insolvency law, transactions may be voided in certain circumstances including on the grounds that the transaction constituted a fraudulent preference or lacked a corporate benefit for the relevant party. A transaction might also be challenged if it involved a gift by the company or a company received consideration of significantly less value than the benefit given by such company. However, a Luxembourg court generally will not intervene if a company entered into the transaction in good faith for the purposes of carrying on its business and there were reasonable grounds for believing the transaction would benefit the company either on a stand alone basis or, more exceptionally under certain circumstances, as part of a larger corporate group that is connected through common ownership. Under Luxembourg law, a court (if it deems appropriate) may in certain circumstances order that, where persons were knowingly parties to the conduct of a transaction with that company and the carrying on of business of that company with the intent of defrauding creditors of the company or any other person or of any fraudulent purpose, such persons be held liable for damages or, depending on the circumstances, without limitation, for all or any debt or other liability of that company. Under English insolvency law, the liquidator or administrator of a company may apply to the court to unwind a transaction entered into by such company at less than fair value if the company was insolvent at the time of, or becomes insolvent as a consequence of, the transaction and entered into a formal insolvency process within two years of the completion of the transaction. Under Gibraltar insolvency law, in a liquidation of a company any obligation incurred by a company which is unable to pay its debts as they become due in favor of any creditor, with a view to giving such creditor a preference over other creditors, shall, unless effected for valuable consideration, be void against a liquidator if incurred within three months of the commencement of the winding up.

Each of the Luxembourg and English guarantors believes that its guarantees will not be issued on terms that would amount to a transaction at less than fair value and that such guarantee will be in good faith for the purposes of carrying on its business and that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the transactions would benefit it. Each of the Luxembourg, Gibraltar and English guarantors also believes that it is solvent and that its guarantee will not render it insolvent. There can be no assurance, however, that the issue of the guarantees will not be challenged by a liquidator of such guarantors or that a Luxembourg, Gibraltar, English or other competent court would support the analysis described above.

 

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The guarantees of the notes by the Luxembourg, Gibraltar and English guarantors will be limited to the maximum amount that can be guaranteed without rendering the guarantees voidable or otherwise ineffective under applicable laws relating to insolvency, ultra vires or similar laws or regulations affecting the rights of creditors generally. As a result, the liabilities of the Luxembourg, Gibraltar and English guarantors under their guarantees could be reduced to zero, depending upon the amount of their respective other obligations.

The Issuer may not be able to repurchase the notes upon a change of control.

The indenture requires the Issuer to offer to repurchase some or all of the notes when certain change of control events occur. If the Issuer experiences a change of control, you will have the right to require the Issuer to repurchase your notes at a purchase price in cash equal to 101% of the principal amount of your notes plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. Many of the indentures governing our existing notes and the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements contain similar change of control provisions.

The Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement provides that a change of control, as defined therein, constitutes an event of default. Any future credit agreement or other agreements relating to senior indebtedness to which we become a party may contain similar provisions. If Intelsat Jackson experiences a change of control that triggers a default under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, Intelsat Jackson could seek a waiver of such default or seek to refinance the credit facilities under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement. If Intelsat Jackson does not obtain such a waiver or refinance the credit facilities under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, such default could result in amounts outstanding under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement being declared due and payable.

If the Issuer experiences a change of control that results in it having to repurchase the notes, it may not have sufficient financial resources to satisfy all of its obligations under the notes and the existing notes issued by the Issuer. In addition, the change of control covenant in the indenture governing the notes offered hereby does not cover all corporate reorganizations, mergers or similar transactions and may not provide you with protection in a highly leveraged transaction. See “Description of Notes—Change of Control” in this prospectus.

There has not been, and may not be, a public market for the notes.

The notes will be new securities for which there is currently no market. We cannot guarantee the future development of a market for the notes or the ability of holders to sell, or the price at which holders may be able to sell, their notes. If the notes are traded after their initial issuance, they may trade at a discount from their initial offering price, depending upon prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities and other factors. The initial purchasers in the offering of the original notes informed us that, subject to applicable laws and regulations, as of the issuance date of the original notes they intended to make a market in the notes. However, the initial purchasers are not obligated to do so, and any market making by them may be discontinued at any time without notice. Therefore, no assurance can be given as to whether an active trading market will develop for the notes or, if a market develops, whether it will continue.

The Issuer does not intend to apply for listing of the notes on any securities exchange or automated quotation system.

Because the non-U.S. Intelsat companies are incorporated under the laws of countries other than the United States, and certain of their directors and officers reside outside of the United States, it may be difficult for you to enforce judgments against the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or their directors and officers.

The Issuer and certain of the guarantors are incorporated and currently existing under the laws of countries other than the United States. In addition, certain of the directors and officers of the non-U.S. Intelsat companies reside outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process on the

 

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non-U.S. Intelsat companies or those persons in the United States or to enforce in the United States judgments obtained in U.S. courts against the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or those persons based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. securities or other laws. Uncertainty exists as to whether courts in the jurisdictions of organization of the non-U.S. Intelsat companies will enforce judgments obtained in other jurisdictions, including the United States, against the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or the directors or officers under the securities or other laws of those jurisdictions or entertain actions in those jurisdictions against the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or the directors or officers under the securities or other laws of other jurisdictions.

The Intelsat companies might be subject to unanticipated taxes, and a holder’s income on the notes might be treated as income from U.S. sources.

Intelsat S.A. and its non-U.S. subsidiaries, including the Issuer, intend to conduct their operations (and believe they have conducted their operations to date) so that Intelsat S.A. and its non-U.S. subsidiaries, including the Issuer, will not be (and have not been) engaged in a trade or business within the United States, will not earn (and have not earned) income effectively connected with such a business that would be subject to U.S. federal income tax and will not be subject (and have not been subject) to significant U.S. withholding tax. However, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service may conclude that Intelsat S.A. and/or its non-U.S. subsidiaries, including the Issuer, have engaged in a trade or business within the United States and/or have been subject to significant U.S. withholding tax. Such a determination could result in a substantial unanticipated tax liability. In addition, if the Issuer were deemed to have engaged in a U.S. trade or business, all or a portion of the interest on the notes would be treated as from U.S. sources and to the extent payable to non-U.S. holders, could be subject to withholding tax unless certain conditions are met.

If a bankruptcy petition is filed by or against us, holders of the notes may receive a lesser amount for their claim than they would have been entitled to receive under the indenture governing the notes.

If a bankruptcy petition is filed by or against us under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code after the issuance of the notes, the claim by any holder of the notes for the principal amount of the notes may be limited to an amount equal to the sum of:

 

•

the original issue price for the notes; and

 

•

that portion of the original issue discount that does not constitute “unmatured interest” for purposes of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Any original issue discount that was not amortized as of the date of the bankruptcy filing would constitute unmatured interest. Accordingly, holders of the notes under these circumstances may receive a lesser amount than they would be entitled to under the terms of the indenture governing the notes, even if sufficient funds are available.

Risk Factors Relating to the Exchange Offer

The issuance of the new notes may adversely affect the market for the original notes.

To the extent the original notes are tendered and accepted in the exchange offer, the trading market for the untendered and tendered but unaccepted original notes could be adversely affected. Because we anticipate that most holders of the original notes will elect to exchange their original notes for new notes due to the absence of restrictions on the resale of new notes under the Securities Act of 1933, we anticipate that the liquidity of the market for any original notes remaining after the completion of this exchange offer may be substantially limited. Please refer to the section in this prospectus entitled “The Exchange Offer—Consequences of Failure to Properly Tender Original Notes in the Exchange.”

 

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Some persons who participate in the exchange offer must deliver a prospectus in connection with resales of the new notes.

Based on interpretations of the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission contained in Exxon Capital Holdings Corp., SEC no-action letter (April 13, 1988), Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., SEC no-action letter (June 5, 1991) and Shearman & Sterling, SEC no-action letter (July 2, 1983), we believe that you may offer for resale, resell or otherwise transfer the new notes without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. However, in some instances described in this prospectus under “Plan of Distribution,” you will remain obligated to comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and/or the Prospectus Directive to transfer your new notes. In these cases, if you transfer any new note without delivering a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 or without an exemption from registration of your new notes under the Securities Act of 1933, you may incur liability under this act. We do not and will not assume, or indemnify you against, this liability.

Risk Factors Relating to Our Business

We are subject to significant competition both within the FSS sector and from other providers of communications capacity, such as fiber optic cable capacity. Competition from other telecommunications providers could have a material adverse effect on our business and could prevent us from implementing our business strategy and expanding our operations as planned.

We face significant competition in the FSS sector in different regions around the world. We compete against other satellite operators and against suppliers of ground-based communications capacity. The increasing availability of satellite capacity and capacity from other forms of communications technology has historically created an excess supply of telecommunications capacity in certain regions from time to time. Increased competition in the FSS sector could lower prices, which could reduce our operating margins and the cash available to fund our operations and service our debt obligations. In addition, there has been a trend toward consolidation of major FSS providers as customers increasingly demand more robust distribution platforms with network redundancies and worldwide reach, and we expect to face increased competition as a result of this trend. Our direct competitors are likely to continue developing and launching satellites with greater power and more transponders, which may create satellite capacity at lower costs. In order to compete effectively, we may have to invest in similar technology.

We also believe that there are many companies that are seeking ways to improve the ability of existing land-based infrastructure, such as fiber optic cable, to transmit signals. Any significant improvement or increase in the amount of land-based capacity, particularly with respect to the existing fiber optic cable infrastructure and point-to-point applications, may cause our video services customers to shift their transmissions to land-based capacity or make it more difficult for us to obtain new customers. If fiber optic cable networks or other ground-based high-capacity transmission systems are available to service a particular point, that capacity, when available, is generally less expensive than satellite capacity. As land-based telecommunications services expand, demand for some satellite-based services may be reduced.

In addition, we face challenges to our business apart from these industry trends that our competition may not face. A portion of our revenue has historically been derived from channel services. Because fiber optic cable capacity is available at lower prices than satellite capacity, competition from fiber optic cable has historically caused a migration of our point-to-point customers from satellite to fiber optic cable on certain routes, resulting in erosion in our revenue from point-to-point services over the last ten years. Some other FSS operators have service mixes that are less weighted towards point-to-point connectivity than our current service mix. We have been addressing this erosion and sustaining our business by expanding our customer base in point-to-multipoint services, such as video, and growing our managed services business.

Failure to compete effectively with other FSS operators and to adapt to new competition and new technologies or failure to implement our business strategy while maintaining our existing business would result in a loss of revenue and a decline in profitability, a decrease in the value of our business and a downgrade of our credit ratings, which would restrict our access to the capital markets.

 

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The market for fixed satellite services may not grow or may shrink and therefore we may not be able to attract new customers, retain our existing customers or implement our strategies to grow our business. In addition, pricing pressures may have an adverse impact on FSS sector revenue.

The FSS sector, as a whole, has experienced growth over the past few years. However, the future market for FSS may not grow or may shrink. Competing technologies, such as fiber optic cable, are continuing to adversely affect the point-to-point segment of the FSS sector. In the point-to-multipoint segment, the global economic downturn, the transition of video traffic from analog to digital and continuing improvements in compression technology have negatively impacted demand for certain fixed satellite services. Developments that we expect to support the growth of the satellite services industry, such as continued growth in data traffic and the proliferation of DTH platforms, HDTV and niche programming, may fail to materialize or may not occur in the manner or to the extent we anticipate. Any of these industry dynamics could negatively affect our operations and financial condition.

Because the market for FSS may not grow or may shrink, we may not be able to attract customers for the services that we are providing as part of our strategy to sustain our business. Reduced growth in the FSS sector may also adversely affect our ability to retain our existing customers. A shrinking market could reduce the number and value of our customer contracts and would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, there could be a substantial negative impact on our credit ratings and our ability to access the capital markets.

The FSS sector has in the past experienced periods of pricing pressures that have resulted in reduced revenues of FSS operators. If similar pricing pressures were to occur in the future, this could have a significant negative impact on our revenues and financial condition.

Our financial condition could be materially and adversely affected if we were to suffer a satellite loss that is not adequately covered by insurance.

We currently carry in-orbit insurance only with respect to a small portion of our satellite fleet. As of September 30, 2011, three of the satellites in our fleet were covered by in-orbit insurance. One of the three insured satellites, Galaxy 13/Horizons-1, is covered by an insurance policy with substantial exclusions or exceptions to coverage for failures of specific components identified by the insurance underwriters as at risk for possible failure, which reduces the probability of an insurance recovery in the event of a loss on this satellite. In-orbit insurance coverage may initially be for an amount comparable to launch insurance levels, generally decreases over time and is typically based on the declining book value of the satellite.

As our satellite insurance policies expire, we may elect to reduce or eliminate insurance coverage relating to certain of our satellites to the extent permitted by our debt agreements if, in our view, exclusions make such policies ineffective or the costs of coverage make such insurance impractical and we believe that we can more reasonably protect our business through the use of in-orbit spare satellites, backup transponders and self-insurance. A partial or complete failure of a revenue-producing satellite, whether insured or not, could require additional, unplanned capital expenditures, an acceleration of planned capital expenditures, interruptions in service, a reduction in contracted backlog and lost revenue and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We do not currently insure against lost revenue in the event of total or partial loss of a satellite.

We also maintain third-party liability insurance on our satellites to cover damage caused by our satellites. As of September 30, 2011, all of the satellites in our fleet were covered by third-party liability insurance. This insurance, however, may not be adequate or available to cover all third-party liability damages that may be caused by any of our satellites, and we may not in the future be able to renew our third-party liability coverage on reasonable terms and conditions, if at all.

 

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Our business is capital intensive and requires us to make long-term capital expenditure decisions, and we may not be able to raise adequate capital to finance our business strategies, or we may be able to do so only on terms that significantly restrict our ability to operate our business.

Implementation of our business strategy requires a substantial outlay of capital. As we pursue our business strategies and seek to respond to opportunities and trends in our industry, our actual capital expenditures may differ from our expected capital expenditures and there can be no assurance that we will be able to satisfy our capital requirements in the future. The nature of our business also requires us to make capital expenditure decisions in anticipation of customer demand, and we may not be able to correctly predict customer demand. We have only a fixed amount of transponder capacity available to serve a particular region. If our customer demand exceeds our transponder capacity, we may not be able to fully capture the growth in demand in the region served by that capacity. We currently expect that the majority of our liquidity requirements in the next twelve months will be satisfied by cash on hand, cash generated from our operations and borrowings under our revolving credit facility. However, if we determine we need to obtain additional funds through external financing and are unable to do so, we may be prevented from fully implementing our business strategy.

The availability and cost to us of external financing depend on a number of factors, including general market conditions, our financial performance and our credit rating. Both our credit rating and our ability to obtain financing generally may be influenced by the supply and demand characteristics of the telecommunications sector in general and of the FSS sector in particular. Declines in our expected future revenue under contracts with customers and challenging business conditions faced by our customers are among factors that may adversely affect our credit. Other factors that could impact our credit include the amount of debt in our current capital structure, activities associated with our strategic initiatives, our expected future cash flows and the capital expenditures required to execute our business strategy. The overall impact on our financial condition of any transaction that we pursue may be negative or may be negatively perceived by the financial markets and ratings agencies and may result in adverse rating agency actions with respect to our credit rating. A disruption in the capital markets, a deterioration in our financial performance or a credit rating downgrade could limit our ability to obtain financing or could result in any such financing being available only at greater cost or on more restrictive terms than might otherwise be available. Our credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s Investor Services Inc. in June 2006, in January 2008, in February 2009 and again in October 2009 and by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group (“S&P”), in June 2006, in June 2007, in February 2008 (but only with respect to one tranche of our debt) and again in October 2009. Our debt agreements also impose restrictions on our operation of our business and could make it more difficult for us to obtain further external financing if required. See “—Risk Factors Relating to Our Indebtedness and the Notes—The terms of the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, the Intelsat Jackson Unsecured Credit Agreements, the indentures governing our existing notes and the notes offered hereby and the terms of our other indebtedness may restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes in our business or to take certain actions.”

Long-term disruptions in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty due to the recent global recession, changing or increased regulation or failures of significant financial institutions could adversely affect our access to capital. If financial market disruptions intensify it may make it difficult for us to raise additional capital or refinance debt when needed, on acceptable terms or at all. Any disruption could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs can be arranged. Such measures could include deferring capital expenditures and reducing or eliminating other discretionary uses of cash.

We may become subject to unanticipated tax liabilities that may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We and certain of our subsidiaries are Luxembourg-based companies and are subject to Luxembourg taxation for corporations. We believe that a significant portion of the income derived from our communications network will not be subject to tax in certain countries in which we own assets or conduct activities or in which our customers are located, including the United States and the United Kingdom. However, this belief is based on

 

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the presently anticipated nature and conduct of our business and on our current position under the tax laws of the countries in which we own assets or conduct activities. This position is subject to review and possible challenge by taxing authorities and to possible changes in law that may have a retroactive effect.

In addition, we conduct business with customers and counterparties in multiple countries and jurisdictions. Our overall tax burden is affected by tax legislation in these jurisdictions and the terms of income tax treaties between these countries and the countries in which our subsidiaries are qualified residents for treaty purposes as in effect from time to time. Tax legislation in these countries and jurisdictions may be amended and treaties are regularly renegotiated by the contracting countries and, in each case, may change. If tax legislation or treaties were to change, we could become subject to additional taxes, including retroactive tax claims or assessments of withholding on amounts payable to us or other taxes assessed at the source, in excess of the taxation we anticipate based on business contacts and practices and the current tax regimes. The extent to which certain taxing jurisdictions may require us to pay tax or to make payments in lieu of tax cannot be determined in advance. Our results of operations could be materially adversely affected if we become subject to a significant amount of unanticipated tax liabilities.

We are subject to political, economic and other risks due to the international nature of our operations.

We provide communications services in approximately 200 countries and territories. Accordingly, we may be subject to greater risks than other companies as a result of the international nature of our business operations. We could be harmed financially and operationally by tariffs, taxes and other trade barriers that may be imposed on our services, or by political and economic instability in the countries in which we provide service. If we ever need to pursue legal remedies against our customers or our business partners, it may be difficult for us to enforce our rights against them depending on their location.

Substantially all of our on-going technical operations are conducted in the United States and Germany. Providers of satellite launch services, upon which we are reliant to place our satellites into orbit, locate their operations in countries including Kazakhstan and French Guiana. Political disruptions in these two countries could increase the risk of launching the satellites that provide capacity for our operations, which could result in financial harm to us.

Our business is subject to foreign currency risk.

Almost all of our customers pay for our services in U.S. dollars, although we are exposed to some risk related to customers who do not pay in U.S. dollars. Fluctuations in the value of non-U.S. currencies may make payment in U.S. dollars more expensive for our non-U.S. customers. In addition, our non-U.S. customers may have difficulty obtaining U.S. currency and/or remitting payment due to currency exchange controls.

Our New Sponsors control us and may have conflicts of interest with us in the future.

Intelsat Global is controlled by affiliates of the New Sponsors and the funds advised by or associated with the New Sponsors. The New Sponsors, together with certain members of our senior management team and other designated employees, beneficially own substantially all of the equity interests in Intelsat Global, which is the direct parent of Intelsat Global Subsidiary, which is the direct parent of Intelsat Holdings, which is the direct parent of Intelsat S.A. The New Sponsors also own a portion of the outstanding notes issued by Intelsat Luxembourg. The New Sponsors have control over our decisions to enter into any corporate transaction and have the ability to prevent any transaction that requires the approval of shareholders. For example, the New Sponsors could cause us to make acquisitions that increase the amount of our indebtedness. Additionally, the New Sponsors are in the business of making investments in companies and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. The New Sponsors may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. So long as the New Sponsors continue to own a significant amount of the equity of Intelsat Global, they will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions.

 

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We have several large customers and the loss of, or default by, these customers could materially reduce our revenue and materially adversely affect our business.

We rely on a limited number of customers to provide a substantial portion of our revenue and contracted backlog. For the year ended December 31, 2010, our ten largest customers and their affiliates represented approximately 27% of our revenue. The loss of, or default by, our larger customers could adversely affect our current and future revenue and operating margins.

Some customers have in the past defaulted and, although we monitor our larger customers’ financial performance and seek deposits, guarantees and other methods of protection against default where possible, our customers may in the future default on their obligations to us due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational failure or other reasons. Defaults by any of our larger customers or by a group of smaller customers who, collectively, represent a significant portion of our revenue could adversely affect our revenue, operating margins and cash flows. If our contracted backlog is reduced due to the financial difficulties of our customers, our revenue, operating margins and cash flows would be further negatively impacted.

Risk Factors Relating to Our Industry

We may experience in-orbit satellite failures or degradations in performance that could impair the commercial performance of our satellites, which could lead to lost revenue, an increase in our cash operating expenses, lower operating income or lost backlog.

Satellites utilize highly complex technology and operate in the harsh environment of space and, accordingly, are subject to significant operational risks while in orbit. These risks include malfunctions, commonly referred to as anomalies, that have occurred in our satellites and the satellites of other operators as a result of:

 

•

the satellite manufacturer’s error, whether due to the use of new technology or due to a design, manufacturing or assembly defect that was not discovered before launch;

 

•

problems with the power systems of the satellites, including:

 

•

circuit failures or other array degradation causing reductions in the power output of the solar arrays on the satellites, which could cause us to lose some of our capacity, require us to forego the use of some transponders initially and to turn off additional transponders in later years; and/or

 

•

failure of the cells within the batteries, whose sole purpose is to power the payload and spacecraft operations during the daily eclipse periods which occur for brief periods of time during two 40-day periods around March 21 and September 21 of each year; and

 

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problems with the control systems of the satellites, including:

 

•

failure of the primary and/or backup satellite control processor (“SCP”); and

 

•

failure of the Xenon-Ion Propulsion System (“XIPS”) used on certain Boeing satellites, which is an electronic propulsion system that maintains the spacecraft’s proper in-orbit position; and/or

 

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general failures resulting from operating satellites in the harsh space environment, such as premature component failure or wear out.

We have experienced anomalies in each of the categories described above. Although we work closely with the satellite manufacturers to determine and eliminate the cause of these anomalies in new satellites and provide for on-satellite backups for certain critical components to minimize or eliminate service disruptions in the event of failure, we may experience anomalies in the future, whether of the types described above or arising from the failure of other systems or components. These anomalies can manifest themselves in scale from minor reductions of equipment redundancy to marginal reductions in capacity to complete satellite failure. Some of our satellites have experienced significant anomalies in the past and some have components that are now known to be susceptible to similar significant anomalies. Each of these is discussed in “Business—Satellite Health and Technology.” An on-satellite backup for certain components may not be available upon the occurrence of such an anomaly.

 

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Any single anomaly or series of anomalies could materially and adversely affect our operations, our revenues, our relationship with our current customers and our ability to attract new customers for our satellite services. In particular, future anomalies may result in the loss of individual transponders on a satellite, a group of transponders on that satellite or the entire satellite, depending on the nature of the anomaly and the availability of on-satellite backups. Anomalies and our estimate of their future effect may also cause a reduction of the expected service life of a satellite and contracted backlog. Anomalies may also cause a reduction of the revenue generated by that satellite or the recognition of an impairment loss, and in some circumstances could lead to claims from third parties for damages, if a satellite experiencing an anomaly were to cause physical damage to another satellite, create interference to the transmissions on another satellite, or cause other satellite operators to incur expenses to avoid such physical damage or interference. Finally, the occurrence of anomalies may adversely affect our ability to insure our satellites at commercially reasonable premiums, if at all. While some anomalies are covered by insurance policies, others are not or may not be covered. See “—Risk Factors Relating to Our Business—Our financial condition could be materially and adversely affected if we were to suffer a satellite loss that is not adequately covered by insurance.”

Many of the technical problems we have experienced with our current fleet have been component failures and anomalies. Our IS-804 satellite experienced a sudden and unexpected electrical power system anomaly that resulted in the total loss of the satellite in January 2005. The IS-804 satellite was a Lockheed Martin 7000 series (“LM 7000 series”) satellite, and we operate three other satellites in the LM 7000 series, the IS-801, IS-802 and IS-805 satellites. We believe that the IS-804 satellite failure was most likely caused by a high current event in the battery circuitry triggered by an electrostatic discharge that propagated to cause the sudden failure of the high voltage power system.

Our IS-802 satellite experienced a reduction of electrical power capability that resulted in a degraded capability of the satellite in September 2006. A significant subset of transponders on IS-802 was subsequently reactivated and is operating normally. We believe that the IS-802 anomaly was most likely caused by an electrical short internal to the solar array harness located on the south solar array boom.

Our Galaxy 26 and Galaxy 27 satellites experienced sudden anomalies in their electrical distribution systems that resulted in the loss of control of the satellites and the interruption of customer services on the satellites in June 2008 and November 2004, respectively. We believe the likely root cause of the anomalies is a design flaw that is affected by a number of parameters and in some extreme cases can result in an electrical system anomaly. This design flaw exists on three of our satellites, Galaxy 27, Galaxy 26 and IS-8.

Our Galaxy 15 satellite experienced an anomaly in April 2010 resulting in our inability to command the satellite. We transitioned all media traffic on this satellite to our Galaxy 12 satellite, which was our designated in-orbit spare satellite for the North America region. Galaxy 15 is a Star-2 satellite manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation. On December 23, 2010, we recovered command of the spacecraft and subsequently completed diagnostic testing and uploading of software updates that protect against future anomalies of this type. In February 2011, Galaxy 15 initiated a drift to 133.1°W and returned to service, initially as an in-orbit spare.

We may also experience additional anomalies relating to the failure of the SCP in certain of our BSS 601 satellites, various anomalies associated with XIPS in our BSS 601 HP satellites or a progressive degradation of the solar arrays in certain of our BSS 702 satellites.

Three of the BSS 601 satellites that we operated in the past, as well as BSS 601 satellites operated by others, have experienced a failure of the primary and backup SCPs. On February 1, 2010, our IS-4 satellite experienced an anomaly of its backup SCP and was taken out of service.

Certain of the BSS 601 HP satellites have experienced various problems associated with their XIPS. We currently operate four satellites of this type, two of which have experienced failures of both XIPS. We may in the future experience similar problems associated with XIPS or other propulsion systems on our satellites.

 

 

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Two of the three BSS 702 satellites that we operate, as well as BSS 702 satellites of a similar design operated by others, have experienced a progressive degradation of their solar arrays causing a reduction in output power. Along with the manufacturer, we continually monitor the problem to determine its cause and its expected effect. The power reduction may require us to permanently turn off certain transponders on the affected satellites to allow for the continued operation of other transponders, which could result in a loss of revenues, or may result in a reduction of the satellite’s service life. In 2004, based on a review of available data, we reduced our estimate of the service lives of both satellites due to the continued degradation.

On April 22, 2011, the Intelsat New Dawn satellite was launched into orbit. Subsequent to the launch, the satellite experienced an anomaly during the deployment of its west antenna reflector, which controls communications in the C-band frequency. The anomaly had not been experienced previously on other STAR satellites manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation, including those in the Intelsat fleet. The Ku-band antenna reflector deployed and that portion of the satellite is operating as planned, entering service in June 2011. A Failure Review Board was established to determine the cause of the anomaly. The Failure Review Board completed its investigation in July 2011 and concluded that the deployment anomaly of the C-band reflector was most likely due to a malfunction of the reflector sunshield. As a result, the sunshield interfered with the ejection release mechanism, and prevented the deployment of the C-band antenna. Parallel efforts continue in an attempt to deploy the C-band reflector. The New Dawn Failure Review Board also recommended corrective actions for Orbital Sciences Corporation satellites not yet launched to prevent reoccurrence of the anomaly. Appropriate corrective actions were implemented on Intelsat 18, which was successfully launched on October 5, 2011, and will be implemented on Intelsat 23, which is currently being manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation. At present, it is not believed that any needed modifications would delay current launch expectations. However, there can be no assurance that modifications to these two Orbital Sciences Corporation satellites will address the cause of the anomaly, that our operating expenses will not increase or that our results of operations will not be affected.

We may experience a launch failure or other satellite damage or destruction during launch, which could result in a total or partial satellite loss. A new satellite could also fail to achieve its designated orbital location after launch. Any such loss of a satellite could negatively impact our business plans and could reduce our revenue.

Satellites are subject to certain risks related to failed launches. Launch failures result in significant delays in the deployment of satellites because of the need both to construct replacement satellites, which can take 24 months or longer, and to obtain other launch opportunities. Such significant delays could materially and adversely affect our operations and our revenue. In addition, significant delays could give customers who have purchased or reserved capacity on that satellite a right to terminate their service contracts relating to the satellite. We may not be able to accommodate affected customers on other satellites until a replacement satellite is available. A customer’s termination of its service contracts with us as a result of a launch failure would reduce our contracted backlog. Delay caused by launch failures may also preclude us from pursuing new business opportunities and undermine our ability to implement our business strategy.

Launch vehicles may also under-perform, in which case the satellite may still be placed into service by using its onboard propulsion systems to reach the desired orbital location, resulting in a reduction in its service life. In addition, although we have had launch insurance on all of our launches to date, if we were not able to obtain launch insurance on reasonable terms and a launch failure were to occur, we would directly suffer the loss of the cost of the satellite and related costs, which could be more than $250 million.

Since 1975, we and the entities we have acquired have launched 108 satellites. Eight of these satellites were destroyed as a result of launch failures. In addition, certain launch vehicles that we have used or are scheduled to use have experienced launch failures in the past. Launch failure rates vary according to the launch vehicle used.

We have seven satellites in development that are expected to be launched from 2011 to 2013. See “Business—Our Network—Satellite Systems—Planned Satellites.”

 

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New or proposed satellites are subject to construction and launch delays, the occurrence of which can materially and adversely affect our operations.

The construction and launch of satellites are subject to certain delays. Such delays can result from the delays in the construction of satellites and launch vehicles, the periodic unavailability of reliable launch opportunities, possible delays in obtaining regulatory approvals and launch failures. We have in the past experienced delays in satellite construction and launch which have adversely affected our operations. Future delays may have the same effect. A significant delay in the future delivery of any satellite may also adversely affect our marketing plan for the satellite. If satellite construction schedules are not met, a launch opportunity may not be available at the time a satellite is ready to be launched. Further, any significant delay in the commencement of service of any of our satellites could enable customers who pre-purchased or agreed to utilize transponder capacity on the satellite to terminate their contracts and could affect our plans to replace an in-orbit satellite prior to the end of its service life. The failure to implement our satellite deployment plan on schedule could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Delays in the launch of a satellite intended to replace an existing satellite that results in the existing satellite reaching its end of life before being replaced could result in loss of business to the extent an in-orbit backup is not available. We have seven satellites in development that are expected to be launched from 2011 to 2013. See “Business—Our Network—Satellite Systems—Planned Satellites.”

Our dependence on outside contractors could result in increased costs and delays related to the launch of our new satellites, which would in turn adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

There are a limited number of companies that we are able to use to launch our satellites and a limited number of commercial satellite launch opportunities available in any given time period. Adverse events with respect to our launch service providers, such as satellite launch failures or financial difficulties (which some of these providers have previously experienced), could result in increased costs or delays in the launch of our satellites. We have paid funds to certain of these providers for future launch services. General economic conditions may also affect the ability of launch providers to provide launch services on commercially reasonable terms or to fulfill their obligations in terms of launch dates, pricing, or both. In the event that our launch service providers are unable to fulfill their obligations, we may have difficulty procuring alternative services in a timely manner and may incur significant additional expenses as a result. Any such increased costs and delays could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

A natural disaster could diminish our ability to provide communications service.

Natural disasters could damage or destroy our ground stations resulting in a disruption of service to our customers. We currently have the technology to safeguard our antennas and protect our ground stations during natural disasters such as a hurricane, but the collateral effects of such disasters such as flooding may impair the functioning of our ground equipment. If a future natural disaster impairs or destroys any of our ground facilities, we may be unable to provide service to our customers in the affected area for a period of time.

Risk Factors Relating to Regulation

We are subject to regulatory and licensing requirements in each of the countries in which we provide services, and our business is sensitive to regulatory changes in those countries.

The telecommunications industry is highly regulated, and in connection with providing satellite capacity, ground network uplinks, downlinks and other value-added services to our customers, we need to maintain regulatory approvals, and from time to time obtain new regulatory approvals, from various countries. Obtaining and maintaining these approvals can involve significant time and expense. If we cannot obtain or are delayed in obtaining the required regulatory approvals, we may not be able to provide these services to our customers or

 

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expand into new services. In addition, the laws and regulations to which we are subject could change at any time, thus making it more difficult for us to obtain new regulatory approvals or causing our existing approvals to be revoked or adversely modified. Because the regulatory schemes vary by country, we may also be subject to regulations of which we are not presently aware and could be subject to sanctions by a foreign government that could materially and adversely affect our operations in that country. If we cannot comply with the laws and regulations that apply to us, we could lose our revenue from services provided to the countries and territories covered by these laws and regulations and be subject to criminal or civil sanctions.

If we do not maintain regulatory authorizations for our existing satellites and associated ground facilities or obtain authorizations for our future satellites and associated ground facilities, we may not be able to operate our existing satellites or expand our operations.

The operation of our existing satellites is authorized and regulated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), the U.K. Office of Communications, the telecommunications licensing authority in Papua New Guinea, the telecommunications ministry of Japan and the regulatory agency of Germany.

Our current operations are in compliance with FCC and non-U.S. licensing jurisdiction requirements. However, if we do not maintain the authorizations necessary to operate our existing satellites, we will not be able to operate the satellites covered by those authorizations, unless we obtain authorization from another licensing jurisdiction. Some of our authorizations provide waivers of technical regulations. If we do not maintain these waivers, we will be subject to operational restrictions or interference that will affect our use of existing satellites. Loss of a satellite authorization could cause us to lose the revenue from services provided by that satellite at a particular orbital location to the extent these services cannot be provided by satellites at other orbital locations.

Our launch and operation of planned satellites requires additional regulatory authorizations from the FCC or a non-U.S. licensing jurisdiction. Based on the current launch schedule through the end of 2012, we will need FCC licenses for six new satellites, the application for one of which has been filed. It is not uncommon for licenses for new satellites to be granted just prior to launch and we expect to receive such licenses for all planned satellites. If we do not obtain any required authorizations in the future, we will not be able to operate our planned satellites. If we obtain a required authorization but we do not meet milestones regarding the construction, launch and operation of a satellite by deadlines that may be established in the authorization, we may lose our authorization to operate a satellite using certain frequencies in an orbital location. Any authorizations we obtain may also impose operational restrictions or permit interference that could affect our use of planned satellites.

If we do not occupy unused orbital locations by specified deadlines, or do not maintain satellites in orbital locations we currently use, those orbital locations may become available for other satellite operators to use.

Our in-orbit satellites do not currently occupy three of the orbital locations for which we have obtained regulatory authorizations. If we are unable to place satellites into currently unused orbital locations by specified deadlines and in a manner that satisfies the International Telecommunication Union, or national regulatory requirements, or if we are unable to maintain satellites at the orbital locations that we currently use, we may lose our rights to use these orbital locations and the locations could become available for other satellite operators to use. We cannot operate our satellites without a sufficient number of suitable orbital locations in which to place the satellites. The loss of one or more of our orbital locations could negatively affect our plans and our ability to implement our business strategy.

Coordination results may adversely affect our ability to use a satellite at a given orbital location for our proposed service or coverage area.

We are required to record frequencies and orbital locations used by our satellites with the International Telecommunication Union and to coordinate the use of these frequencies and orbital locations in order to avoid interference to or from other satellites. The results of coordination may adversely affect our use of satellites at

 

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particular orbital locations. If we are unable to coordinate our satellites by specified deadlines, we may not be able to use a satellite at a given orbital location for our proposed service or coverage area. The use of our satellites may also be temporarily or permanently adversely affected if the operation of adjacent satellite networks does not conform to coordination agreements resulting in the acceptable interference levels being exceeded (e.g., due to operational errors associated with the transmissions to adjacent satellite networks).

Our failure to maintain or obtain authorizations under the U.S. export control and trade sanctions laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The export of satellites and technical data related to satellites, earth station equipment and provision of services are subject to State Department, Commerce Department and Treasury Department regulations. If we do not maintain our existing authorizations or obtain necessary future authorizations under the export control laws and regulations of the United States, we may be unable to export technical data or equipment to non-U.S. persons and companies, including to our own non-U.S. employees, as required to fulfill existing contracts. If we do not maintain our existing authorizations or obtain necessary future authorizations under the trade sanctions laws and regulations of the United States, we may not be able to provide satellite capacity and related administrative services to certain countries subject to U.S. sanctions. In addition, because we conduct management activities from Luxembourg, our U.S. suppliers must comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations in connection with their export of satellites and related equipment and technical data to us. Our ability to acquire new satellites, launch new satellites or operate our satellites could also be negatively affected if our suppliers do not obtain required U.S. export authorizations.

If we do not maintain required security clearances from, and comply with our agreements with, the U.S. Department of Defense, or if we do not comply with U.S. law, we may not be able to continue to perform our obligations under U.S. government contracts.

To participate in classified U.S. government programs, we sought and obtained security clearances for one of our subsidiaries from the U.S. Department of Defense. Given our foreign ownership, we entered into a proxy agreement with the U.S. government that limits our ability to control the operations of this subsidiary, as required under the national security laws and regulations of the United States. If we do not maintain these security clearances, we will not be able to perform our obligations under any classified U.S. government contracts to which our subsidiary is a party, the U.S. government would have the right to terminate our contracts requiring access to classified information and we will not be able to enter into new classified contracts. As a result, our business could be materially adversely affected. Further, if we materially violate the terms of the proxy agreement or if we are found to have materially violated U.S. law, we or the subsidiary holding the security clearances may be suspended or barred from performing any government contracts, whether classified or unclassified, and we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties.

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements in this prospectus constitute forward-looking statements that do not directly or exclusively relate to historical facts. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for certain forward-looking statements as long as they are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

When used in this prospectus, the words “may,” “will,” “ might,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “project,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “intend,” “potential,” “outlook” and “continue,” and the negative of these terms, and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Examples of these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the following: our goal to expand our leading FSS business in high growth regions and applications while maintaining our focus on operational discipline; our expectation that our current capital expenditure program will position our network to capitalize on the FSS sector’s best growth opportunities globally, while providing optimal coverage to meet needs across our targeted customer sets; the characteristics of our refreshed fleet when the current investment cycle is completed; our belief that our strategies will position us to continue to deliver high operating margins, and as our current fleet investment program is completed, strong cash flow generation; the trends we believe will increase demand for satellite services and that we believe will allow us to capture new business opportunities in the future; our intent to continue to evaluate and pursue strategic transactions that complement our global fleet, provide growth capacity and allow us to respond to our customer needs; our belief that our network services and media customers increasingly require managed services best addressed by a network that combines space and terrestrial infrastructure; our expectation that the FSS sector will experience moderate growth over the next few years; our expectation that we will benefit from the general trend towards Internet Protocol (“IP”)-based networking and distribution, including growing use of new media formats, as well as infrastructure applications in emerging regions; our expectation that we will continue to implement compression technologies into our ground network to reduce the bandwidth necessary for network service applications, increasing our customers’ efficiency and expanding our market potential, particularly in emerging regions; our belief that our enhancement of our fully-integrated terrestrial network to an all IP network environment will improve our ground support of high bandwidth applications such as high definition video and will allow us to converge our media and network services terrestrial network infrastructures; the trends that we believe will impact our revenue and operating expenses in the future; our assessments regarding how long satellites that have experienced anomalies in the past should be able to provide service on their transponders; our assessment of the risk of additional anomalies occurring on our satellites; our expectation that certain anomalies will not result in the acceleration of capital expenditures; our plans for satellite launches in the near term; our expected capital expenditures in 2011 and during the next several years; our belief that the diversity of our revenue and customer base allows us to recognize trends, capture new growth opportunities, and gain experience that can be transferred to customers in other regions, enables us to capitalize on changing market conditions and mitigates the impact of fluctuations in any specific customer type or geographic region; our belief that our global scale, diversity, collection of spectrum rights, technical expertise and fully integrated hybrid network form a strategic platform that positions us to identify and capitalize on new opportunities in satellite services; our belief that the scale of our fleet can reduce the financial impact of any satellite failures and protect against service interruption; and the impact on our financial position or results of operations of pending legal proceedings.

The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus reflect our intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about future events. These forward-looking statements speak only as of their dates and are not guarantees of future performance or results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control. These factors could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements and include known and unknown risks. Known risks include, among others, the risks discussed in “Risk Factors” in this prospectus, the political, economic and legal conditions in the markets we are targeting for communications services or in which we operate and other risks and uncertainties inherent in the telecommunications business in general and the satellite communications business in particular.

 

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Other factors that may cause results or developments to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made in this prospectus include, but are not limited to:

 

•

risks associated with operating our in-orbit satellites;

 

•

satellite launch failures, satellite launch and construction delays and in-orbit failures or reduced performance;

 

•

potential changes in the number of companies offering commercial satellite launch services and the number of commercial satellite launch opportunities available in any given time period that could impact our ability to timely schedule future launches and the prices we pay for such launches;

 

•

our ability to obtain new satellite insurance policies with financially viable insurance carriers on commercially reasonable terms or at all, as well as the ability of our insurance carriers to fulfill their obligations;

 

•

possible future losses on satellites that are not adequately covered by insurance;

 

•

domestic and international government regulation;

 

•

changes in our revenue backlog or expected revenue backlog for future services;

 

•

pricing pressure and overcapacity in the markets in which we compete;

 

•

inadequate access to capital markets;

 

•

the competitive environment in which we operate;

 

•

customer defaults on their obligations to us;

 

•

our international operations and other uncertainties associated with doing business internationally;

 

•

litigation; and

 

•

other risks discussed in “Risk Factors” in this prospectus.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee our future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Because actual results could differ materially from our intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about the future, you are urged not to rely on forward-looking statements in this prospectus and to view all forward-looking statements made in this prospectus with caution. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

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SERVICE OF PROCESS AND ENFORCEMENT OF LIABILITIES

The Issuer and certain guarantors (the “non-U.S. Intelsat companies”) are incorporated and currently existing under the laws of countries other than the United States. In addition, certain of the directors and officers of the non-U.S. Intelsat companies reside outside of the United States and most of the assets of the non-U.S. Intelsat companies and some of the assets of their directors and officers are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process on the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or those persons in the United States or to enforce in the United States judgments obtained in U.S. courts against the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or those persons based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. securities laws or other laws. Uncertainty exists as to whether courts in the jurisdiction of organization of the non-U.S. Intelsat companies will enforce judgments obtained in other jurisdictions, including the United States, against the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or their directors or officers under the securities or other laws of those jurisdictions or entertain actions in those jurisdictions against the non-U.S. Intelsat companies or their directors or officers under the securities or other laws of those jurisdictions.

Luxembourg

It may be possible to effect service of process within Luxembourg upon the Issuer, the Luxembourg guarantors and their respective directors and officers provided that The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters of November 15, 1965 is complied with.

We have been advised by Elvinger, Hoss & Prussen, our Luxembourg counsel, that the traditional requirements for a valid, final and conclusive judgment against the Issuer or the Luxembourg guarantors in any civil or commercial suit, action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with the notes obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States, which judgment remains in full force and effect after all appeals as may be taken in the relevant state or federal jurisdiction with respect thereto have been taken, to be enforced through a court of competent jurisdiction of Luxembourg may be the following (subject to court interpretation, which may evolve):

 

•

the U.S. court awarding the judgment has jurisdiction to adjudicate the respective matter under its applicable laws, and such jurisdiction is recognized by Luxembourg private international and local law;

 

•

the judgment is final and duly enforceable in the jurisdiction where the decision is rendered;

 

•

the U.S. court has applied the substantive law as designated by the Luxembourg conflict of laws rules;

 

•

the U.S. court has acted in accordance with its own procedural laws;

 

•

the judgment was granted following proceedings where the counterparty had the opportunity to appear, and if it appeared, to present a defense; and

 

•

the judgment does not contravene public policy as understood under the laws of Luxembourg and has not been given in proceedings of a criminal nature.

The Issuer has also been advised by its Luxembourg counsel that if an original action is brought in Luxembourg, Luxembourg courts may refuse to apply the designated law if its application contravenes Luxembourg public policy.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of the new notes in this exchange offer. We will pay all expenses in connection with the exchange offer. We are making this exchange solely to satisfy our obligations under the registration rights agreement entered into in connection with the offering of the original notes. In consideration for issuing the new notes, we will receive original notes in like aggregate principal amount.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization as of September 30, 2011 on an actual basis.

You should read the following table in conjunction with “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

		As of September 30, 2011
		(in thousands)
Long-Term Debt:
Secured Debt:
Intelsat Jackson Senior Secured Credit Facilities due April 2018 (1)		$	3,241,875
Unamortized discount on Intelsat Jackson Senior Secured Credit Facilities			(14,851	)
New Dawn Senior Secured Debt Facility due January 2017			107,378
New Dawn Mezzanine Secured Debt Facility due January 2019			79,850
Horizons Holdings Loan Payable to JSAT			73,255
Total secured debt			3,487,507
Unsecured Debt:
Intelsat S.A.:
6.5% Senior Notes due November 2013			353,550
Unamortized discount on 6.5% Senior Notes			(57,369	)
Total Intelsat S.A. obligations			296,181
Intelsat Luxembourg:
11.25% Senior Notes due February 2017 (2)			2,805,000
11.5% / 12.5% Senior PIK Election Notes due February 2017 (2)			2,502,986
Total Intelsat Luxembourg obligations			5,307,986
Intelsat Jackson:
11.25% Senior Notes due June 2016 (3)			1,048,220
Unamortized premium on 11.25% Senior Notes			4,469
9.5% Senior Notes due June 2016 (4)			701,913
Senior Unsecured Credit Facilities due February 2014 (5)			195,152
New Senior Unsecured Credit Facilities due February 2014 (6)			810,876
8.5% Senior Notes due November 2019 (4)			500,000
Unamortized discount on 8.5% Senior Notes			(3,623	)
7.25% Senior Notes due October 2020 (4)			1,000,000
7.25% Senior Notes due April 2019 (4)			1,500,000
7.5% Senior Notes due April 2021 (4)			1,150,000
Total Intelsat Jackson unsecured obligations			6,907,007
New Dawn:
10.5% Note Payable to Convergence Partners			502
Total New Dawn unsecured obligations			502
Total unsecured debt			12,511,676
Total long-term debt		$	15,999,183
Total shareholders’ deficit		$	(1,105,589	)
Noncontrolling interest			50,732
Total capitalization		$	14,944,326

 

(1)	The term loan under the Intelsat Jackson Senior Secured Credit Agreement is guaranteed by Intelsat S.A., Intelsat Luxembourg and certain of Intelsat Jackson’s subsidiaries.

(2)	These notes are guaranteed by Intelsat S.A.

(3)	These notes are guaranteed by Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Luxembourg.

(4)	These notes are guaranteed by Intelsat S.A., Intelsat Luxembourg and certain of Intelsat Jackson’s subsidiaries that guarantee Intelsat Jackson’s obligations under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement.

(5)	The term loan under the Intelsat Jackson Senior Unsecured Credit Agreement is guaranteed by Intelsat S.A., Intelsat Luxembourg and certain of Intelsat Jackson’s subsidiaries.

(6)	The term loan under the New Intelsat Jackson Senior Unsecured Credit Agreement is guaranteed by Intelsat S.A., Intelsat Luxembourg and certain of Intelsat Jackson’s subsidiaries.

 

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SELECTED HISTORICAL CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The following selected historical consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by reference to, our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and their notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

As a result of the consummation of the New Sponsors Acquisition, the financial results for the combined year ended December 31, 2008 have been presented in our audited consolidated financial statements for the “Predecessor Entity” for the period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008 and for the “Successor Entity” for the period February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 and the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2010. Although the effective date of the New Sponsors Acquisition was February 4, 2008, due to the immateriality of the results of operations for the period between February 1, 2008 and February 4, 2008, we have accounted for the New Sponsors Acquisition as if it had occurred on February 1, 2008 and recorded “push-down” accounting to reflect the acquisition of Intelsat Holdings.

Our selected historical consolidated statement of operations data and cash flow data for the period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008 (Predecessor Entity) have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Our selected historical consolidated statement of operations data and cash flow data for the period February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 (Successor Entity) and the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2010 (Successor Entity), and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2009 and 2010 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and are included elsewhere in this prospectus. The consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2008 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this prospectus.

Our selected consolidated statement of operations data and consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2007 (Predecessor Entity) and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2006 and 2007 (Predecessor Entity) have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this prospectus.

Our selected historical consolidated statement of operations data and cash flow data for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 and our selected consolidated balance sheet data as of September 30, 2011 have been derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The selected consolidated balance sheet data as of September 30, 2010 have been derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements not included in this prospectus. All adjustments that are, in our opinion, necessary for a fair statement of the results of the interim periods presented have been recorded. The results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any future period.

 

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		Predecessor Entity												Successor Entity
		Year Ended December 31,								January 1  to January 31, 2008				February 1  to December 31, 2008				Year Ended December  31,								Nine Months Ended September 30,
		2006				2007												2009				2010				2010				2011
		(in thousands)
Consolidated Statement of Operations Data:
Revenue		$	1,662,666			$	2,183,079			$	190,261			$	2,174,640			$	2,513,039			$	2,544,652			$	1,900,683			$	1,935,515
Operating expenses:
Direct costs of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)			274,280				323,557				25,683				337,466				401,826				413,400				302,620				316,749
Selling, general and administrative			198,189				238,490				18,485				182,957				259,944				220,207				144,589				157,516
Depreciation and amortization			701,517				784,120				64,157				795,663				804,037				798,817				596,989				583,196
Restructuring and transaction costs			26,452				9,258				313,102				1,926				—				—				—				—
Impairment of asset value (1)			48,974				—				—				390,444				499,100				110,625				110,625				—
Losses on derivative financial instruments			11,731				11,699				11,431				155,305				2,681				89,509				90,592				24,163
Total operating expenses			1,261,143				1,367,124				432,858				1,863,761				1,967,588				1,632,558				1,245,415				1,081,624
Income (loss) from operations			401,523				815,955				(242,597	)			310,879				545,451				912,094				655,268				853,891
Interest expense, net			724,141				954,607				80,275				1,295,458				1,362,823				1,379,019				1,035,018				992,084
Gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt			—				(38,143	)			—				576				4,697				(76,849	)			(75,805	)			(326,183	)
Earnings (loss) from previously unconsolidated affiliates			(97	)			187				15				495				517				503				377				(24,658	)
Other income (expense), net			(27,149	)			(324	)			520				(12,452	)			41,496				9,124				7,566				7,753
Loss before income taxes			(349,864	)			(176,932	)			(322,337	)			(995,960	)			(770,662	)			(534,147	)			(447,612	)			(481,281	)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes			18,850				14,957				(10,476	)			(109,561	)			11,399				(26,378	)			(54,919	)			(48,931	)
Net loss			(368,714	)			(191,889	)			(311,861	)			(886,399	)			(782,061	)			(507,769	)			(392,693	)			(432,350	)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest			—				—				—				93				369				2,317				3,029				2,942
Net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A.		$	(368,714	)		$	(191,889	)		$	(311,861	)		$	(886,306	)		$	(781,692	)		$	(505,452	)		$	(389,664	)		$	(429,408	)
Consolidated Cash Flow Data:
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	448,556			$	557,021			$	19,619			$	876,143			$	873,656			$	1,018,218			$	621,020			$	673,220
Net cash used in investing activities.			(3,304,607	)			(540,988	)			(24,701	)			(409,897	)			(947,095	)			(954,614	)			(657,379	)			(620,612	)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities			3,079,761				(173,602	)			(22,304	)			(1,504,431	)			73,001				150,698				208,593				(453,022	)
Other Data
EBITDA (2)		$	1,075,794			$	1,599,938			$	(177,905	)		$	1,094,585			$	1,391,501			$	1,720,538			$	1,260,200			$	1,420,182
Ratio of earnings to fixed charges (3)			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Capital expenditures		$	152,086			$	543,612			$	24,701			$	397,759			$	943,133			$	982,127			$	683,349			$	615,113

 

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		Predecessor Entity								Successor Entity
		As of December 31,								As of December 31,												As of September 30,
		2006				2007				2008				2009				2010				2010				2011
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	583,656			$	426,569			$	470,211			$	477,571			$	692,930			$	$651,224			$	295,421
Satellites and other property and equipment, net			4,729,135				4,586,348				5,339,671				5,781,955				5,997,283				5,908,022				6,179,780
Total assets			12,401,408				12,053,332				17,657,332				17,342,935				17,592,367				17,556,169				17,283,553
Total debt			11,279,615				11,265,404				14,873,333				15,320,699				15,916,625				15,952,991				15,999,183
Shareholders’ equity (deficit)			(541,341	)			(722,384	)			504,347				(210,763	)			(698,941	)			(597,061	)			(1,105,589	)

 

(1)

The non-cash impairment charge in 2006 relates to the write-down of the IS-802 satellite to its fair value after a partial loss of the satellite. The non-cash impairment charge in 2008 includes $63.6 million for the write-down of the Galaxy 26 satellite to its estimated fair value after a partial loss of the satellite, as well as $326.8 million due to the impairment of our rights to operate at orbital locations. The non-cash impairment charge in 2009 relates to a further impairment of our rights to operate at orbital locations. The non-cash impairment charge in 2010 includes $104.1 million for the write-down of the Galaxy 15 satellite to its estimated fair value following an anomaly and $6.5 million for the write-off of our IS-4 satellite, net of the related deferred performance incentive obligations. The IS-4 satellite was deemed to be unrecoverable due to an anomaly.

(2)

EBITDA consists of earnings before net interest, gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt, taxes and depreciation and amortization. Given our high level of leverage, refinancing activities are a frequent part of our efforts to manage our costs of borrowing. Accordingly, we consider gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt an element of interest expense. EBITDA is a measure commonly used in the FSS sector, and we present EBITDA to enhance the understanding of our operating performance. We use EBITDA as one criterion for evaluating our performance relative to that of our peers. We believe that EBITDA is an operating performance measure, and not a liquidity measure, that provides investors and analysts with a measure of operating results unaffected by differences in capital structures, capital investment cycles and ages of related assets among otherwise comparable companies. However, EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under U.S. GAAP, and our EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to operating income (loss) or net income (loss), determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of our operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of cash flows, or as a measure of liquidity.

 

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Set forth below is a reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA.

 

		Predecessor Entity												Successor Entity
		Year Ended December 31,								January 1 to January 31, 2008				February 1 to December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2009				Year Ended December 31, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30,
		2006				2007																				2010				2011
(in thousands)
Net loss .		$	(368,714	)		$	(191,889	)		$	(311,861	)		$	(886,399	)		$	(782,061	)		$	(507,769	)		$	(392,693	)		$	(432,350	)
Add:
Interest expense, net			724,141				954,607				80,275				1,295,458				1,362,823				1,379,019				1,035,018				992,084
(Gain) loss on early extinguishment of debt			—				38,143				—				(576	)			(4,697	)			76,849				75,805				326,183
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes			18,850				14,957				(10,476	)			(109,561	)			11,399				(26,378	)			(54,919	)			(48,931	)
Depreciation and amortization			701,517				784,120				64,157				795,663				804,037				798,817				596,989				583,196
EBITDA		$	1,075,794			$	1,599,938			$	(177,905	)		$	1,094,585			$	1,391,501			$	1,720,538			$	1,260,200			$	1,420,182

 

(3)

For purposes of calculating the ratio of earnings to fixed charges, earnings represent income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes, less capitalized interest, plus amortization of capitalized interest and fixed charges. Fixed charges include interest expense (including amortization of debt issuance costs), capitalized interest and the portion of operating rental expense that our management believes is representative of the interest component of rent expense. The ratio of earnings to fixed charges is not presented for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2007, the periods January 1 to January 31, 2008, February 1 to December 31, 2008, the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2010 or the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2011 as earnings were inadequate to cover fixed charges during those periods by $313.0 million, $201.0 million, $324.6 million, $1.0 billion, $837.6 million, $601.3 million, $494.1 million and $524.9 million, respectively.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our historical consolidated financial statements covers periods before and after the New Sponsors Acquisition Transactions. This discussion should be read together with “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data” and our consolidated financial statements and their notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP, and, unless otherwise indicated, the other financial information contained in this prospectus has also been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. See “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” for a discussion of factors that could cause our future financial condition and results of operations to be different from those discussed below. Certain monetary amounts, percentages and other figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, figures shown as totals in certain tables may not be the arithmetic aggregation of the figures that precede them, and figures expressed as percentages in the text may not total 100% or, as applicable, when aggregated may not be the arithmetic aggregation of the percentages that precede them. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to “dollars” and “$” in this prospectus are to, and all monetary amounts in this prospectus are presented in, U.S. dollars.

Overview

We operate the world’s largest satellite services business, providing a critical layer in the global communications infrastructure. We generate more revenue, operate more satellite capacity, hold more orbital location rights, contract more backlog, serve more commercial customers and deliver services in more countries than any other commercial satellite operator. We provide diversified communications services to the world’s leading media companies, fixed and wireless telecommunications operators, data networking service providers for enterprise and mobile applications, multinational corporations and ISPs. We are also the leading provider of commercial satellite capacity to the U.S. government and other select military organizations and their contractors.

Our network solutions are a critical component of our customers’ infrastructures and business models. Our customers use our global network for a broad range of applications, from global distribution of content for media companies to providing the transmission layer for unmanned aerial vehicles to enabling essential network backbones for telecommunications providers. In addition, our satellite solutions provide higher reliability than is available from local terrestrial telecommunications services in many regions and allow our customers to reach geographies that they would otherwise be unable to serve.

2011 Reorganization and 2011 Secured Loan Refinancing

On January 12, 2011, certain of our subsidiaries completed a series of internal transactions and related steps that reorganized the ownership of our assets among our subsidiaries and effectively combined the legacy businesses of Intelsat Sub Holdco and Intelsat Corp in order to simplify our operations and enhance our ability to transact business in an efficient manner (the “2011 Reorganization”). Also on January 12, 2011, Intelsat Jackson entered into a secured credit agreement (the “Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement”) as discussed below in “—Long Term Debt—Senior Secured Credit Facilities”, and borrowed $3.25 billion under the term loan facility. Part of the net proceeds of the term loan, amounting to $2.4 billion, were contributed or loaned to Intelsat Corp, which used such funds to repay its existing indebtedness under Intelsat Corp’s senior secured credit facilities and to redeem Intelsat Corp’s 9 ¹/4% Senior Notes due 2016 (the “2016 Intelsat Corp Notes”). Separately, Intelsat Corp also redeemed all of its 9 ¹/4% Senior Notes due 2014 (the “2014 Intelsat Corp Notes”) and its 6 ⁷/8% Senior Secured Debentures due 2028 (the “2028 Intelsat Corp Notes”). In addition, Intelsat Jackson contributed approximately $330.2 million of the net proceeds of the new term loan to Intelsat Sub Holdco to repay all existing indebtedness under Intelsat Sub Holdco’s senior secured credit facilities. The entry into the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement, the repayment of the existing indebtedness of Intelsat Corp and the repayment of all the secured existing indebtedness of Intelsat Sub Holdco are referred to collectively as the “2011 Secured Loan Refinancing”. In connection with the 2011 Secured Loan Refinancing, certain of our interest

 

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rate swaps were assigned by Intelsat Sub Holdco and Intelsat Corp to Intelsat Jackson, and are now secured by a first priority security interest in the collateral that also secures obligations under the Intelsat Jackson Secured Credit Agreement. Additionally, in connection with the 2011 Secured Loan Refinancing, we recognized a loss on early extinguishment of debt of $87.9 million during the first quarter of 2011, which consists of the difference between the carrying value of the Intelsat Corp and Intelsat Sub Holdco debt repaid or redeemed and the total cash amount paid (including related fees), and a write-off of unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs.

2011 Notes Redemptions

On March 18, 2011, Intelsat S.A. redeemed all of the $485.8 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 7 ⁵/8% Senior Notes due 2012 (the “2012 Intelsat S.A. Notes”). Additionally, on March 18, 2011, Intelsat Sub Holdco redeemed $225.0 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 8 ¹/2% Senior Notes due 2013 (the “2013 Sub Holdco Notes”). In connection with these redemptions, we recognized a loss on early extinguishment of $80.3 million during the first quarter of 2011, which consists of the difference between the carrying value of the Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Sub Holdco debt redeemed and the total cash paid (including related fees), and a write-off of unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs. On April 8, 2011, Intermediate Holdco redeemed all of the $4.5 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 9 ¹/4% Senior Discount Notes due 2015 (the “2015 Intermediate Holdco Notes”). The redemptions of all of the outstanding 2012 Intelsat S.A. Notes and 2015 Intermediate Holdco Notes, and the redemption of $225.0 million of the 2013 Sub Holdco Notes, are referred to collectively as the “2011 Notes Redemptions”.

2011 Intelsat Jackson Notes Offering, Tender Offers and Additional Redemptions

On April 5, 2011, Intelsat Jackson completed an offering of $2.65 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes (the “2011 Intelsat Jackson Notes Offering”), consisting of $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of 2019 Notes and $1.15 billion aggregate principal amount of the 2021 Notes (collectively, the “New Jackson Notes”). The net proceeds were primarily used to repurchase in tender offers launched on March 21, 2011 and completed on April 15, 2011, and to subsequently redeem remaining outstanding amounts on May 5, 2011, of all of the Intermediate Holdco and Intelsat Sub Holdco notes and the Intelsat Jackson 9 ¹/4% Senior Notes due 2016 and 11 ¹/2% Senior Notes due 2016. As a result, no third party debt remained outstanding at Intermediate Holdco and Intelsat Sub Holdco as of May 5, 2011. Additionally, in connection with the above transactions, we recognized a loss on early extinguishment of debt of $158.0 million during the three months ended June 30, 2011, which consists of the difference between the carrying value of the debt repaid or redeemed and the total cash amount paid (including related fees), and a write-off of unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs.

Impact of the New Sponsors Acquisition Transactions

On February 4, 2008, Serafina completed its acquisition of 100% of the equity ownership of Intelsat Holdings for total cash consideration of approximately $5.0 billion. The former shareholders of Intelsat Holdings (other than management) sold 100% of their equity interests in Intelsat Holdings. Upon closing, management contributed to Serafina Holdings the portion of their equity interests in Intelsat Holdings not purchased for cash by Serafina in exchange for equity interests in Serafina Holdings (which was renamed Intelsat Global, Ltd. on February 8, 2008).

In order to finance the New Sponsors Acquisition, Serafina borrowed $4.96 billion in aggregate principal amount of term loans under a $2.81 billion senior unsecured bridge loan credit agreement, dated as of February 4, 2008 (the “Senior Bridge Loan Credit Agreement”) and a $2.15 billion senior unsecured payment-in-kind election bridge loan credit agreement, dated as of February 4, 2008 (the “PIK Election Bridge Loan Credit Agreement” and, together with the Senior Bridge Loan Credit Agreement, the “Bridge Loan Credit Agreements”). See “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt—New Sponsors Acquisition Financing.”

 

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Immediately following the New Sponsors Acquisition, Intelsat Bermuda transferred certain of its assets (including all of its direct and indirect ownership interests in our subsidiaries) and certain of its liabilities and obligations to a newly formed direct wholly-owned subsidiary, Intelsat Jackson, pursuant to an assignment and assumption agreement (the “Intelsat Bermuda Transfer”). Following the Intelsat Bermuda Transfer, Intelsat Jackson became the owner of substantially all of Intelsat Bermuda’s assets and the obligor with respect to substantially all of Intelsat Bermuda’s liabilities and obligations, and Intelsat Bermuda no longer had any rights or obligations with respect to such assets and liabilities. Immediately after the consummation of the Intelsat Bermuda Transfer, Serafina assigned certain of its assets and liabilities to Intelsat Bermuda (the “Serafina Assignment”), including Serafina’s rights and obligations under the Bridge Loan Credit Agreements and a Commitment Letter, dated as of June 19, 2007, among Serafina and certain banks, related to the financing of the New Sponsors Acquisition, as amended by the Commitment Letter Amendment, dated as of February 7, 2008 (the “Financing Commitment Letter”). In addition, Intelsat Sub Holdco and Intelsat Corporation (“Intelsat Corp”) entered into amendments to their respective previously existing senior secured credit facilities, and Intelsat Corp entered into a joinder agreement to its previously existing credit agreement, to facilitate the New Sponsors Acquisition. In connection with the New Sponsors Acquisition, on February 7, 2008, Intelsat Jackson redeemed all $260.0 million of its outstanding Floating Rate Senior Notes due 2013 and all $600.0 million of its outstanding Floating Rate Senior Notes due 2015, and on March 6, 2008, Intelsat, Ltd. redeemed all $400.0 million of its outstanding 5 ¹/4% Senior Notes due 2008. The New Sponsors Acquisition and the transactions described above are collectively referred to as the New Sponsors Acquisition Transactions.

Immediately upon the closing of the New Sponsors Acquisition, the Intelsat Bermuda and Intelsat Sub Holdco monitoring fee agreements with the Former Sponsors were terminated. Intelsat Bermuda entered into a new monitoring fee agreement (the “2008 MFA”) with BC Partners Holdings Limited and Silver Lake Management Company III, L.L.C. (together, the “2008 MFA parties”), pursuant to which the 2008 MFA parties provide certain monitoring, advisory and consulting services to Intelsat Bermuda.

The New Sponsors Acquisition resulted in a change of control under the indentures governing certain of our outstanding series of notes and Intelsat Jackson’s Senior Unsecured Credit Agreement dated February 2, 2007, giving the holders of those notes and loans the right to require the respective issuers to repurchase such notes and the borrower to repay such loans at 101% of their principal amount, plus accrued interest to the date of repurchase or repayment. During the second and third quarters of 2008, the relevant entities completed each such change of control offer, financing the repurchases and repayment through backstop unsecured credit agreement borrowings under the Financing Commitment Letter or with proceeds from offerings of notes and a new unsecured term loan borrowing. See “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt—New Sponsors Acquisition Financing—Change of Control Offers” and “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt—2008 Debt Transactions.”

In addition, all outstanding restricted performance shares under the Intelsat Holdings, Ltd. 2005 Share Incentive Plan (the “2005 Share Plan”) vested upon consummation of the New Sponsors Acquisition. Vesting in share-based compensation arrangements (“SCAs”) issued under the 2005 Share Plan doubled if the awardee was still employed on February 4, 2008. The vested SCAs were cancelled in return for cash in an amount equal to the excess of approximately $400 (the per share price of the transaction) over the exercise price of each share covered. Vested restricted shares (including time and performance vesting shares) were purchased at approximately $400 per share. In connection with the New Sponsors Acquisition, each unvested restricted share of Intelsat Holdings was exchanged for approximately four unvested restricted shares of Intelsat Global (“exchange shares”) and the exchange shares continued to be classified as a liability of Intelsat Global due to certain repurchase features in the 2005 Share Plan. In addition, the original vesting periods associated with the unvested Intelsat Holdings restricted shares continued. In May 2009, the board of directors of Intelsat Global adopted an amended and restated Intelsat Global, Ltd. 2008 Share Incentive Plan (the “2008 Share Plan”), and Intelsat Global entered into new restricted share agreements with respect to the exchange shares. As a result, as of December 31, 2010, these exchange share grants were no longer subject to certain repurchase features and

 

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were instead deemed to be granted in accordance with the guidance provided in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC” or the “Codification”) Topic 718, Compensation —Stock Compensation (“FASB ASC 718”).

In connection with the completion of the New Sponsors Acquisition Transactions, we recorded $313.1 million of transaction costs in our consolidated statement of operations during the predecessor period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008. These costs included $197.2 million of costs associated with the repurchase or cancellation of restricted shares and SCAs of Intelsat Holdings, an advisory service fee of $60.0 million paid to the 2008 MFA parties, and $55.3 million in professional fees.

The New Sponsors Acquisition was accounted for by Intelsat Holdings under the purchase method of accounting in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations (“FASB ASC 805”). As a result, the purchase price was allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair market values at the date of acquisition. In accordance with Topic 5J of the codified SEC Staff Accounting Bulletins, the purchase accounting adjustments have been “pushed down” and recorded in our consolidated financial statements, which resulted in a new basis of accounting for the “successor period” beginning after the consummation of the New Sponsors Acquisition. Determining fair values required us to make significant estimates and assumptions. In order to develop estimates of fair values, we considered the following generally accepted valuation approaches: the cost approach, the income approach and the market approach. Our estimates included assumptions about projected growth rates, cost of capital, effective tax rates, tax amortization periods, technology royalty rates and technology life cycles, the regulatory and legal environment, and industry and economic trends. While we believe that the estimates and assumptions underlying the valuation methodologies were reasonable, different assumptions could have resulted in different market values. The purchase price allocation was finalized during the year ended December 31, 2008.

Revenue

Revenue Overview

We earn revenue primarily by providing services over satellite transponder capacity to our customers. Our customers generally obtain satellite capacity from us by placing an order pursuant to one of several master customer service agreements. The master customer agreements and related service orders under which we sell services specify, among other things, the amount of satellite capacity to be provided, whether service will be non-preemptible or preemptible and the service term. Most services are full time in nature, with service terms ranging from one year to as long as 15 years. Occasional use services used for video applications can be for much shorter periods, including increments of one hour. Our master customer service agreements offer different service types, including transponder services, managed services, and channel, which are all services that are provided on, or used to provide access to, our global network. We refer to these services as on-network services. Our customer agreements also cover services that we procure from third parties and resell, which we refer to as off-network services. These services can include transponder services and other satellite-based transmission services sourced from other operators, often in frequencies not available on our network. The following table describes our primary service types:

 

Service Type		Description
On-Network Revenues:
Transponder Services		Commitments by customers to receive service via, or to utilize capacity on, particular designated transponders according to specified technical and commercial terms.

 

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Service Type		Description
Managed Services		Hybrid services which combine satellite capacity, teleport facilities, satellite communications hardware and fiber optic cable and other ground facilities to provide managed and monitored broadband, Internet, video and private network services to customers.
Channel		Commitments by customers to purchase an overall amount or level of service, without committing to particular designated transponders for specified terms within the commitment period. Services are offered “off the shelf,” so technical terms are not specially tailored to a given customer. Channel is not considered a core service offering due to changing market requirements and the proliferation of fiber alternatives for point-to-point customer applications.
Off-Network and Other Revenues:
Transponder, Mobile Satellite Services and Other		Voice, data and video services provided by third-party commercial satellite operators for which the desired frequency type or geographic coverage is not available on our network. These services include MSS, for which our Intelsat General business is a reseller.
Satellite-related Services		Services include a number of satellite-related consulting and technical services that involve the lifecycle of satellite operations and related infrastructure, from satellite and launch vehicle procurement through TT&C services and related equipment sales.

We market our services on a global basis, with almost every populated region of the world contributing to our revenue. The diversity of our revenue allows us to benefit from changing market conditions and lowers our risk from revenue fluctuations in our service applications and geographic regions.

Trends Impacting Our Revenue

Our revenue at any given time is partially dependent on the supply of communications capacity available in a geographic region, including capacity from other satellite providers and from competing technologies such as fiber optic cable networks, as well as the level of demand for that capacity. See “Business—The FSS Sector” for a discussion of the global trends creating demand for our services. In recent years, we have generated new revenue from a number of sources, including on our global network, from growth in demand for transponder services for network services applications such as network extensions for cellular phone operators and satellite-based private data networks and managed services for Internet backbone access and corporate broadband networks. We have also experienced growth in demand for transponder services for use in video applications such as HDTV services and DTH television services. New transponder services and managed services revenue has also been generated from demand for government applications, such as support for military operations. Growth in demand for MSS, generally from demand from customers of our Intelsat General business for spectrum or regional coverage unavailable on our network, has also resulted in new revenue. Although margins for MSS are typically substantially lower than for services provided on our network, our MSS are low risk in nature, with the terms and conditions of the procured capacity typically matched to contractual commitments from our customers.

 

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See “Business—Our Customer Sets” for a discussion of our customers’ uses of our services and see “Business—Our Strategy” for a discussion of our strategies with respect to marketing to our various customer sets.

Customer Applications

Our transponder services, managed services, MSS and channel are used by our customers for three primary customer applications: network service applications, media applications and government applications.

Pricing

We believe that the flexibility that we have to help our customers optimize their services and in pricing services for new capacity in certain regions has positively affected our revenue. Although the pricing of our services is generally fixed for the duration of existing service commitments, new and renewing service commitments are priced competitively to reflect regional demand and other factors, subject to the contractual restrictions noted in the paragraph below. Over the last three years, we experienced improving pricing trends in most of the regions we serve.

We are subject to contractual restrictions that constrain our ability to price services according to market rates in some limited circumstances. These contractual restrictions include the LCO protection provisions described in “Business—Certain Customer Service Agreements.”

Operating Expenses

Direct Costs of Revenue (Exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization)

Direct costs of revenue relate to costs associated with the operation and control of our satellites, our communications network and engineering support and consist principally of salaries and related employment costs, in-orbit insurance, earth station operating costs and facilities costs. Our direct costs of revenue fluctuate based on the number and type of services offered and under development. Direct costs of revenue have increased due to our expanded sales of MSS to customers of our Intelsat General business and due to launch vehicle costs related to satellite-related services. We expect our direct costs of revenue to increase as we add customers and expand our managed services and MSS.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses relate to costs associated with our sales and marketing staff and our administrative staff, which includes legal, finance and human resources. Staff expenses consist primarily of salaries and related employment costs including stock compensation, travel costs and office occupancy costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses also include building maintenance and rent expenses and the provision for uncollectible accounts. Selling, general and administrative expenses also include fees for professional services and fees payable to the New Sponsors and related parties in support of the New Sponsors Acquisition Transactions and other strategic activities, which have been significant in recent periods. Selling, general and administrative expenses fluctuate with the number of customers served and the number and types of services offered.

Depreciation and Amortization

Our capital assets consist primarily of our satellites and associated ground network infrastructure. Included in capitalized satellite costs are the costs for satellite construction, satellite launch services, insurance premiums for satellite launch and the in-orbit testing period, the net present value of deferred satellite performance incentives payable to satellite manufacturers, and capitalized interest incurred during the satellite construction period.

Capital assets are depreciated or amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives. The remaining depreciable lives of our satellites range from less than one year to 17 years as of December 31, 2010. As a result of the New Sponsors Acquisition Transactions, our depreciation and amortization costs increased, primarily due to increases in fair values of satellites and intangible assets as a result of purchase accounting.

 

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Impairment Charges

During the first quarter of 2009, the credit markets experienced difficulties, with new debt issuances being priced at significantly higher effective interest rates as compared to the pricing of debt issuances completed in prior periods. The higher effective interest rates reflected, in our view, higher discounts being applied in the valuation of companies generally, and were therefore considered by us to be an indicator of potential impairment to the fair value of our right to operate at orbital locations. The higher interest rates resulted in an increase to our weighted average cost of capital, and led to our recognizing a non-cash impairment charge of $499.1 million in the first quarter of 2009. During the first quarter of 2010, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $6.5 million for the impairment of our IS-4 satellite, which was deemed unrecoverable. We also recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $104.1 million for the impairment of our Galaxy 15 satellite after an anomaly occurred in April 2010 resulting in our inability to command the satellite. When the Galaxy 15 anomaly occurred there was substantial uncertainty as to our ability to recover use of the satellite and, accordingly, we recognized an impairment during the second quarter of 2010. On December 23, 2010, our Galaxy 15 satellite was recovered and extensive in-orbit testing was subsequently completed to determine its functionality. In February 2011, Galaxy 15 initiated a drift to 133.1°W and returned to service as an in-orbit spare. In October 2011, media traffic was transferred from Galaxy 12 back to Galaxy 15 and it resumed normal service. See “—Critical Accounting Policies—Asset Impairment Assessments.”

Backlog

We benefit from strong visibility of our future revenues. Contracted backlog is our expected future revenue under customer contracts, and includes both cancelable and non-cancelable contracts. Our backlog was approximately $9.8 billion as of December 31, 2010 and approximately $10.7 billion as of September 30, 2011. As of December 31, 2010, the weighted average remaining customer contract life was approximately 4.75 years. We currently expect to deliver services associated with approximately $2.1 billion, or approximately 21%, of our December 31, 2010 backlog during the year ending December 31, 2011. Based on our backlog at December 31, 2010, we expect to recognize at least $96.3 million in channel revenue during the year ending December 31, 2011. The amount included in backlog represents the full service charge for the duration of the contract and does not include termination fees. Approximately 86% of our backlog as of September 30, 2011 and approximately 85% of our backlog as of December 31, 2010 related to contracts that were non-cancelable and approximately 10% as of such dates related to contracts that were cancelable subject to substantial termination fees. In certain cases of breach for non-payment or customer bankruptcy, we may not be able to recover the full value of certain contracts or termination fees. Our contracted backlog includes 100% of the backlog of our consolidated ownership interests, which is consistent with the accounting for our ownership interests in these entities. This backlog reduces the volatility of our net cash provided by operating activities more than would be typical for a company outside our industry.

Included in our contracted backlog at September 30, 2011 was approximately $88.6 million of additional backlog related to future revenue on the Horizons-1 and Horizons-2 satellites (the “Horizons Satellites”). On September 30, 2011, we entered into an amendment to the Horizons Holdings joint venture agreement as a result of which we determined that we were the primary beneficiary of Horizons Holdings and consequently we began consolidating Horizons Holdings as of September 30, 2011. We have included 100% of the backlog related to the future revenue on the Horizons Satellites, which was previously included in our backlog at 50% in prior periods.

Additionally, in the third quarter of 2011 we reduced our contracted backlog by $300.8 million previously associated with future revenue on our Intelsat New Dawn satellite’s C-band frequency. This satellite experienced an anomaly that prevented deployment of its C-band antenna reflector and the venture’s ability to provide service to its C-band customers (see “—Capital Expenditures” for further discussion of the New Dawn C-band anomaly).

 

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Our expected future revenue under our backlog as of September 30, 2011 was as follows (in millions):

 

Period
2011		$	611.4
2012			1,945.0
2013			1,536.5
2014			1,209.5
2015			984.3
2016 and thereafter			4,460.6
Total		$	10,747.3

Our backlog by service type as of September 30, 2011 was as follows (in millions, except percentages):

 

Service Type		Amount				Percent
Transponder services		$	9,548.1				89	%
Managed services			430.3				4
Mobile satellite services and other			518.1				5
Channel			250.8				2
Total		$	10,747.3				100	%

We believe this backlog and the resulting predictable cash flows in the FSS sector reduce the volatility of our net cash provided by operating activities more than would be typical for a company outside our industry.

 

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Results of Operations

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010 and 2011

The following table sets forth our comparative statements of operations for the periods shown with the increase (decrease) and percentage changes, except those deemed not meaningful (“NM”), between the periods presented (in thousands, except percentages):

 

										Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011 Compared to Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010
		Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011				Increase (Decrease)				Percentage Change
Revenue		$	1,900,683			$	1,935,515			$	34,832				2	%
Operating expenses:
Direct costs of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)			302,620				316,749				14,129				5
Selling, general and administrative			144,589				157,516				12,927				9
Depreciation and amortization			596,989				583,196				(13,793	)			(2	)
Impairment of asset value			110,625				—				(110,625	)			NM
Losses on derivative financial instruments			90,592				24,163				(66,429	)			(73	)
Total operating expenses			1,245,415				1,081,624				(163,791	)			(13	)
Income from operations			655,268				853,891				198,623				30
Interest expense, net			1,035,018				992,084				(42,934	)			(4	)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt			(75,805	)			(326,183	)			(250,378	)			NM
Earnings (loss) from previously unconsolidated affiliates			377				(24,658	)			(25,035	)			NM
Other income, net			7,566				7,753				187				2
Loss before income taxes			(447,612	)			(481,281	)			(33,669	)			8
Benefit from income taxes			(54,919	)			(48,931	)			5,988				(11	)
Net loss			(392,693	)			(432,350	)			(39,657	)			10	%
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest			3,029				2,942				(87	)			(3	)
Net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A.		$	(389,664	)		$	(429,408	)		$	(39,744	)			10	%

Revenue

The following table sets forth our comparative revenue by service type, with Off-Network and Other Revenues shown separately from On-Network Revenues, for the periods shown (in thousands, except percentages):

 

		Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011				Increase (Decrease)				Percentage Change
On-Network Revenues
Transponder services		$	1,374,357			$	1,422,163			$	47,806				3	%
Managed services			241,857				222,954				(18,903	)			(8	)
Channel			91,821				80,377				(11,444	)			(12	)
Total on-network revenues			1,708,035				1,725,494				17,459				1
Off-Network and Other Revenues
Transponder, MSS and other off-network services			163,373				168,420				5,047				3
Satellite-related services			29,275				41,601				12,326				42
Total off-network and other revenues			192,648				210,021				17,373				9
Total		$	1,900,683			$	1,935,515			$	34,832				2	%

 

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Total revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 increased by $34.8 million, or 2%, as compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2010. By service type, revenue increased or decreased due to the following:

On-Network Revenues:

 

•

Transponder services—an aggregate increase of $47.8 million as a result of increased sales of capacity and solid renewals. The increase was primarily due to a $25.1 million increase resulting from increased sales of capacity sold by our Intelsat General business, and a $21.8 million increase in revenue from media customers primarily in the Europe, the Latin America and Caribbean and the North America regions.

 

•

Managed services—an aggregate decrease of $18.9 million, primarily due to a $13.4 million net decrease in revenue from network services customers related to non-renewal of contracts for internet trunking and private line solutions primarily in the Africa and Middle East and the Asia-Pacific regions, a trend which we expect will continue due to the migration of services in these regions to fiber optic cable. There was also a $6.3 million decrease in managed video services sold to media customers in the Asia Pacific and the North America regions partially due to reduced occasional use services in the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to 2010, which included revenue from a global sporting event.

 

•

Channel—an aggregate decrease of $11.4 million related to a continued decline from the migration of point-to-point satellite traffic to fiber optic cables, a trend which we expect will continue.

Off-Network and Other Revenues:

 

•

Transponder, MSS and other off-network services—an aggregate increase of $5.0 million, primarily due to a $23.8 million increase in transponder services largely related to contracts being implemented by our Intelsat General business, partially offset by an $20.9 million decline in usage-based MSS revenue.

 

•

Satellite-related services—an aggregate increase of $12.3 million, due primarily to an increase in professional fees earned for providing flight operations support for third-party satellites and government professional services.

Operating Expenses

Direct Costs of Revenue (Exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization)

Direct costs of revenue increased by $14.1 million, or 5%, to $316.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The increase was primarily due to $31.0 million of higher costs attributable to off-network FSS capacity services and other third party services purchased, corresponding to the related increase in revenue, and a $2.6 million increase in the cost of equipment, all of which primarily related to products sold by our Intelsat General business, together with an increase of $6.8 million in staff related expenses. These increases were partially offset by a $17.8 million decline in the cost of MSS capacity purchased, primarily related to solutions sold by our Intelsat General business, and a decrease of $9.7 million in other expenses largely due to a reduction in satellite insurance costs in 2011 resulting from the expiration of prepaid in-orbit insurance coverage that was being amortized.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $12.9 million, or 9%, to $157.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The increase was primarily due to $12.3 million in higher staff related expenses largely related to higher non-cash compensation costs during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 associated with the amended and restated Intelsat Global, Ltd. 2008 Share Incentive Plan, partially offset by a $1.6 million decrease in office and operational expenses.

 

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Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased by $13.8 million, or 2%, to $583.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2010. This decrease was primarily due to the following:

 

•

a decrease of $18.6 million in amortization expense primarily due to variation from year to year in the pattern of consumption of amortizable intangible assets, as these assets primarily include acquired backlog, which relates to contracts covering varying time periods that expire over time, and acquired customer relationships for which the value diminishes over time; and

 

•

a decrease of $20.2 million in depreciation expense due to the timing of certain satellites becoming fully depreciated, the impairment of the IS-4 and Galaxy 15 satellites in 2010 and changes in estimated remaining useful lives of certain satellites; partially offset by

 

•

an increase of $21.7 million in depreciation expense resulting from the impact of satellites placed into service during the first quarter of 2010 and the first and second quarter of 2011; and

 

•

an increase of $3.5 million in depreciation expense due to the timing of ground and other assets placed in service or becoming fully depreciated.

Impairment of Asset Value

Impairment of asset value was $110.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, with no similar charges during the nine months ended September 30, 2011. The charges in 2010 included a $104.1 million non-cash impairment charge for the impairment of our Galaxy 15 satellite after an anomaly occurred in April 2010, as well as a $6.5 million non-cash impairment charge for the impairment of our IS-4 satellite, which was deemed unrecoverable after an anomaly occurred in February 2010.

Losses on Derivative Financial Instruments

Losses on derivative financial instruments were $24.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 compared to $90.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the loss on derivative financial instruments was related to a $28.5 million net loss on our interest rate swaps, offset by a $4.3 million gain on our put option embedded derivative related to the Intelsat Sub Holdco 8 ⁷/8% Senior Notes due 2015, Series B (the “2015 Intelsat Sub Holdco Notes, Series B”).

Interest Expense, Net

Interest expense, net decreased by $42.9 million, or 4%, to $992.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, as compared to $1,035.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in interest expense, net was principally due to the following:

 

•

a decrease of $26.3 million as a result of our refinancing activities, including the 2010 debt transactions and the various 2011 refinancing transactions, redemptions and offerings (see “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt”); and

 

•

a decrease of $25.3 million resulting from higher capitalized interest due to an increase in capitalized satellite related costs; partially offset by

 

•

an increase of $3.7 million in interest expense associated with interest paid-in-kind that was accreted into the principal of the Intelsat Luxembourg 11 1/2%/12 1/2% Senior PIK Election Notes due 2017.

Non-cash items in interest expense, net were $72.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and included $23.1 million of payment-in-kind interest expense. The remaining non-cash interest expense was primarily associated with the amortization of deferred financing fees incurred as a result of new or refinanced debt and the amortization and accretion of discounts and premiums.

 

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Loss on Early Extinguishment of Debt

Loss on early extinguishment of debt was $326.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to $75.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The 2011 loss relates to the repayment of debt in connection with various 2011 refinancings, redemptions, tender offers and offerings. In January 2011, we repurchased $2,849.3 million of Intelsat Corp and Intelsat Sub Holdco debt for $2,906.1 million, excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $8.7 million (see “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt—2011 Debt Transactions—2011 Secured Loan Refinancing”). In March 2011, we redeemed $710.8 million of Intelsat S.A. and Intelsat Sub Holdco debt for $747.6 million, excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $19.1 million (see “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt—2011 Debt Transactions—2011 Notes Redemptions”). In April and May 2011, we redeemed or repurchased $2,527.0 million of Intelsat Sub Holdco, Intelsat Jackson and Intermediate Holdco debt for $2,604.4 million, excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $58.1 million (see “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt—2011 Debt Transactions—2011 Intelsat Jackson Notes Offering, Tender Offers and Additional Redemptions”). The loss of $326.2 million was primarily driven by a $171.1 million difference between the carrying value of the debt repurchased, redeemed or repaid and the total cash amount paid (including related fees), together with a write-off of $155.1 million of unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs.

The 2010 loss was recognized in connection with the purchases by Intelsat Corp of $546.3 million of the 2014 Intelsat Corp Notes for $565.4 million (excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $6.3 million) and $124.9 million of the 2028 Intelsat Corp Notes for $149.9 million (excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $1.8 million), pursuant to cash tender offers. The loss of $75.8 million was caused by a $46.7 million difference between the carrying value of the Intelsat Corp notes purchased and the total cash amount paid (including related fees), and a write-off of $29.1 million unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs.

Earnings (Loss) from Previously Unconsolidated Affiliates

Loss from previously unconsolidated affiliates was $24.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to earnings of $0.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The decrease of $25.1 million was primarily due to a $20.2 million charge as a result of the remeasurement of our investment in Horizons Holdings to fair value upon the consolidation of the joint venture on September 30, 2011 and a $4.5 million loss from the operations of the joint venture recognized prior to consolidation (see Note 6(b)—Investments—Horizons Holdings).

Other Income, Net

Other income, net was $7.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to $7.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The increase of $0.2 million was primarily due to a $1.5 million increase in exchange rate gains, primarily related to our business conducted in Brazilian reais and euros, offset by a $1.3 million decrease related to a gain on the sale of our Viasat, Inc. common stock in 2010 with no comparable gain in the current year.

Benefit from Income Taxes

Our benefit from income taxes was $48.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, as compared to a benefit from income taxes of $54.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. Principally, the 2010 tax benefits recorded in relation to the Galaxy 15 satellite impairment and the 2010 reductions in our balance of unrecognized tax benefits exceeded the 2011 tax benefits recorded in connection with the Horizons remeasurement charge, the September 2011 internal subsidiary mergers and the 2011 reductions in our balance of unrecognized tax benefits.

Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds, totaled $32.0 million and $19.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

 

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Years Ended December 31, 2009 and 2010

The following table sets forth our comparative statements of operations for the periods shown with the increase (decrease) and percentage changes, except those deemed not meaningful (“NM”), between the periods presented (in thousands, except percentages):

 

		Year Ended December 31, 2009				Year Ended December 31, 2010				Increase (Decrease)				Percentage Change
Revenue		$	2,513,039			$	2,544,652			$	31,613				1	%
Operating expenses:
Direct costs of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)			401,826				413,400				11,574				3
Selling, general and administrative			259,944				220,207				(39,737	)			(15	)
Depreciation and amortization			804,037				798,817				(5,220	)			(1	)
Impairment of asset value			499,100				110,625				(388,475	)			(78	)
Losses on derivative financial instruments			2,681				89,509				86,828				NM
Total operating expenses			1,967,588				1,632,558				(335,030	)			(17	)
Income from operations			545,451				912,094				366,643				67
Interest expense, net			1,362,823				1,379,019				16,196				1
Gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt			4,697				(76,849	)			(81,546	)			NM
Other income, net			42,013				9,627				(32,386	)			(77	)
Loss before income taxes			(770,662	)			(534,147	)			236,515				(31	)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes			11,399				(26,378	)			(37,777	)			NM
Net loss			(782,061	)			(507,769	)			274,292				(35	)%
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest			369				2,317				1,948				NM
Net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A.		$	(781,692	)		$	(505,452	)		$	276,240				(35	)%

Revenue

The following table sets forth our comparative revenue by service type, with Off-Network and Other Revenues shown separately from On-Network Revenues, for the periods shown (in thousands, except percentages):

 

		Year Ended December 31, 2009				Year Ended December 31, 2010				Increase (Decrease)				Percentage Change
On-Network Revenues
Transponder services		$	1,795,477			$	1,839,047			$	43,570				2	%
Managed services			338,607				321,863				(16,744	)			(5	)
Channel			133,660				119,924				(13,736	)			(10	)
Total on-network revenues			2,267,744				2,280,834				13,090				1
Off-Network and Other Revenues
Transponder, MSS and other off-network services			160,660				221,663				61,003				38
Satellite-related services			84,635				42,155				(42,480	)			(50	)
Total off-network and other revenues			245,295				263,818				18,523				8
Total		$	2,513,039			$	2,544,652			$	31,613				1	%

Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010 increased by $31.6 million, or 1%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2009. Netted within this increase was a decline in satellite-related services revenues as a result of launch vehicle resales that occurred during the year ended December 31, 2009, with no similar resales

 

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during the year ended December 31, 2010. Excluding the launch vehicle resales of $44.2 million, total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010 would have increased by 3% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2009. By service type, our revenues increased or decreased due to the following:

On-Network Revenues:

 

•

Transponder services—an aggregate increase of $43.6 million. This resulted from a $43.8 million increase from network services customers, primarily in the Latin America and Caribbean and the Africa and Middle East regions, the impact of the migration of one customer from managed services to transponder services, a $16.7 million increase from increased capacity sold by our Intelsat General business and a $7.4 million increase from media customers primarily in Latin America. These increases of $67.9 million in the aggregate were partially offset by an aggregate decrease of $24.3 million in revenues related to the IS-4 satellite anomaly, which primarily affected revenue from customers in the Europe and the Africa and Middle East regions, and the Galaxy 15 satellite anomaly, which mostly affected revenue from customers in the North America region.

 

•

Managed services—an aggregate decrease of $16.7 million, primarily due to a $12.8 million decline in revenues largely related to the migration of a network services customer from managed services to transponder services and a decline in services sold by our Intelsat General business. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in occasional video services sold to media customers in the Latin America and Caribbean region, mostly associated with a global soccer tournament.

 

•

Channel—an aggregate decrease of $13.7 million related to a continued decline from the migration of point-to-point satellite traffic to fiber optic cables, a trend which we expect will continue.

Off-Network and Other Revenues:

 

•

Transponder, MSS and other off-network services—an aggregate increase of $61.0 million, due primarily to a $42.6 million increase in revenues from transponder services associated with an increase in volume and a $11.9 million increase in MSS revenues from usage-based mobile services, both of which were sold by our Intelsat General business.

 

•

Satellite-related services—an aggregate decrease of $42.5 million, resulting primarily from $44.2 million in launch vehicle resale revenues recorded during the year ended December 31, 2009, with no similar resales occurring during the year ended December 31, 2010.

Operating Expenses

Direct Costs of Revenue (Exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization)

Direct costs of revenue increased by $11.6 million, or 3%, to $413.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2009. The increase was primarily due to the following:

 

•

an increase of $45.8 million in direct cost of sales primarily due to an increase of FSS and MSS sold to customers of our Intelsat General business; and

 

•

an increase of $5.4 million in satellite insurance expenses primarily due to the timing of satellites launched and the related amortization of prepaid satellite insurance; partially offset by

 

•

a decrease of $35.3 million in launch vehicle resale costs in 2010 due to the fact that we did not resell any launch vehicles in 2010; and

 

•

a decrease of $3.9 million in staff expenses in 2010 primarily related to higher compensation costs in 2009 due to new equity awards and revisions to the terms of existing equity awards in 2009.

 

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Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by $39.7 million, or 15%, to $220.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2009. The decrease in 2010 was primarily due to $37.1 million in higher compensation costs in 2009 due to new equity awards and revisions to the terms of existing equity awards in 2009.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased by $5.2 million, or 1%, to $798.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2009. This decrease was primarily due to:

 

•

a net decrease of $47.4 million in depreciation expense due to the timing of certain satellites, ground and other assets becoming fully depreciated, the impairment of the IS-14 and Galaxy 15 satellites in 2010 and changes in estimated remaining useful lives of certain satellites; and

 

•

a decrease of $15.4 million in amortization expense in 2010 primarily due to changes in the expected pattern of consumption; partially offset by

 

•

an increase of $57.6 million in depreciation expense resulting from the impact of satellites placed into service during the second half of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010.

Impairment of Asset Value

Impairment of asset value was $110.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to $499.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. The charges incurred during the year ended December 31, 2010 included a $104.1 million non-cash impairment charge for the impairment of our Galaxy 15 satellite after an anomaly occurred in April 2010 resulting in our inability to command the satellite, as well as a $6.5 million non-cash impairment charge for the impairment of our IS-4 satellite, which was deemed unrecoverable after an anomaly occurred in February 2010.

Losses on Derivative Financial Instruments

Losses on derivative financial instruments were $89.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. For the year ended December 31, 2010, the loss on derivative financial instruments related to a $99.8 million loss on our interest rate swaps primarily due to the change in fair value, partially offset by a $10.3 million gain on our put option embedded derivative related to Intelsat Sub Holdco’s 8 ⁷/₈% Senior Notes due 2015, Series B (the “2015 Sub Holdco Notes, Series B”).

Interest Expense, Net

Interest expense, net consists of the gross interest expense we incur less the amount of interest we capitalize related to capital assets under construction and less interest income earned. As of December 31, 2010, we also held interest rate swaps with an aggregate notional amount of $2.3 billion to economically hedge the variability in cash flow on a portion of the floating-rate term loans under our senior secured and unsecured credit facilities. The swaps have not been designated as hedges for accounting purposes. Interest expense, net increased by $16.2 million, or 1%, to $1.38 billion for the year ended December 31, 2010, as compared to $1.36 billion for the year ended December 31, 2009. The increase in interest expense, net was principally due to the following:

 

•

a net increase of $25.7 million in interest expense associated with interest paid-in-kind that was accreted into the principal of Intelsat Luxembourg’s 11 1/2% /12 1/2% Senior PIK Election Notes due 2017 (the “2017 PIK Notes”) and the October 2009 issuance of Intelsat Jackson’s 8 1/2% Senior Notes due 2019, the proceeds of which were primarily used to purchase and cancel $400 million of the 2017 PIK Notes;

 

•

an increase of $13.0 million in interest expense associated with the 2009 financing activities of Intelsat Sub Holdco and the 2010 Intelsat S.A. consent solicitation; and

 

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•

a net increase of $7.7 million in interest expense associated with the September 2010 issuance of Intelsat Jackson’s 7 1/4% Notes due October 2020, the proceeds of which were transferred to Intelsat Corp to repurchase $546.3 million of its outstanding 2014 Corp Notes for $571.7 million and $124.9 million of its outstanding 2028 Corp Notes for $151.7 million, pursuant to cash tender offers (the “2010 Tender Offers”), together with increased indebtedness under the New Dawn credit facilities; partially offset by

 

•

a decrease of $20.5 million from higher capitalized interest due to an increase in capitalized satellite related costs; and

 

•

a decrease of $12.4 million in interest expense due to lower interest rates on our variable rate debt in 2010 as compared to 2009.

Non-cash items in interest expense, net included $244.9 million of payment-in-kind (“PIK”) interest expense and $97.2 million primarily associated with the amortization of deferred financing fees incurred as a result of new or refinanced debt and the amortization and accretion of discounts and premiums.

Gain (Loss) on Early Extinguishment of Debt

Loss on early extinguishment of debt was $76.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to a gain of $4.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. The 2010 loss was recognized in connection with Intelsat Corp’s 2010 repurchases of $546.3 million of its outstanding 2014 Corp Notes for $565.4 million (excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $6.3 million) and $124.9 million of its outstanding 2028 Corp Notes for $149.9 million (excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $1.8 million) pursuant to the 2010 Tender Offers, and Intelsat Sub HoldCo’s 2010 repurchase of $33.0 million of its outstanding 8 ¹/₂% Senior Notes due 2013 ( the “2013 Sub Holdco Notes”) for $33.5 million (excluding accrued and unpaid interest of $0.6 million) pursuant to an open market purchase transaction. The loss of $76.8 million was primarily driven by a $47.4 million difference between the carrying value of the Intelsat Corp and Intelsat Sub Holdco notes repurchased and the total cash amount paid (including related fees), and a write-off of $29.4 million of unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs.

Other Income, Net

Other income, net was $9.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to $42.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. The decrease of $32.4 million was due to a $27.3 million gain from the sale of our equity ownership in WildBlue Communications, Inc. (“WildBlue”) in the fourth quarter of 2009, as compared to a $1.3 million gain on the sale of our Viasat common stock received as consideration in the sale of

our WildBlue interest during the first quarter of 2010, and a net $6.7 million decrease in exchange rate gains, primarily due to the U.S. dollar weakening against the Brazilian real, which impacts our service contracts with our Brazilian customers.

Provision for (Benefit from) Income Taxes

Our benefit from income taxes increased by $37.8 million to $26.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to a provision of $11.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. The increase in benefit was principally due to a reduction in the balance of unrecognized tax benefits and pre-tax losses incurred in certain taxable jurisdictions, primarily related to the loss on early extinguishment of debt and satellite impairment charges in the United States during 2010, partially offset by higher impairment charges in 2009.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, was enacted in March 2010. Included in the new legislation is a provision that affects the tax treatment of Medicare Part D subsidy payments. With the change in law, the subsidy will still not be taxed, but an equal amount of expenditures by the plan sponsor will not be deductible. Therefore, the expected

 

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future tax deduction will be reduced by an amount equal to the subsidy, and any previously recognized deferred tax asset must be reversed. In accordance with FASB ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes, the expense associated with adjusting this deferred tax asset is recognized as tax expense in continuing operations in the period the change in tax law is enacted. We recorded an increase of $2.9 million to tax expense related to the change in law during 2010.

Years Ended December 31, 2008 and 2009

As a result of the consummation of the New Sponsors Acquisition, the financial results for the combined year ended December 31, 2008 have been separately presented for the “predecessor entity” for the period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008 and for the “successor entity” for the period February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. As such, the reported results of operations for the combined year ended December 31, 2008 are not necessarily comparable to the year ended December 31, 2009, primarily due to interest expense resulting from the acquisition financing and depreciation and amortization costs principally due to the fair value adjustments to long-lived assets in connection with the New Sponsors Acquisition. The historical results are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any future period.

For comparative purposes, we combined the periods from January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008 and February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 in our discussion below, as we believe this combination is useful to provide the reader a year-over-year comparison for purposes of understanding our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We believe this combination of results for the predecessor entity and successor entity periods facilitates an investor’s understanding of our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2009 compared to the combined year ended December 31, 2008. However, this combination is not a measure in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should not be used in isolation or substituted for the separate predecessor entity and successor entity results.

 

		Predecessor Entity						Successor Entity				Combined
		Period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008						Period February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2008
		(in thousands)
Revenue		$	190,261					$	2,174,640			$	2,364,901
Operating expenses:
Direct costs of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)			25,683						337,466				363,149
Selling, general and administrative			18,485						182,957				201,442
Depreciation and amortization			64,157						795,663				859,820
Transaction costs			313,102						1,926				315,028
Impairment of asset value			—						390,444				390,444
Losses on derivative financial instruments			11,431						155,305				166,736
Total operating expenses			432,858						1,863,761				2,296,619
Income (loss) from operations			(242,597	)					310,879				68,282
Interest expense, net			80,275						1,295,458				1,375,733
Gain on early extinguishment of debt			—						576				576
Other income (expense), net			535						(11,957	)			(11,422	)
Loss before income taxes			(322,337	)					(995,960	)			(1,318,297	)
Benefit from income taxes			(10,476	)					(109,561	)			(120,037	)
Net loss			(311,861	)					(886,399	)			(1,198,260	)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest			—						93				93
Net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A.		$	(311,861	)				$	(886,306	)		$	(1,198,167	)

 

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The following table sets forth our comparative statements of operations for the periods shown with the increase (decrease) and percentage changes, except those deemed not meaningful (“NM”), between the periods presented (in thousands, except percentages):

 

		Combined								Year Ended December 31, 2009 Compared to Combined Year Ended December 31, 2008
		Year Ended December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2009				Increase (Decrease)				Percentage Change
Revenue		$	2,364,901			$	2,513,039			$	148,138				6	%
Operating expenses:
Direct costs of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)			363,149				401,826				38,677				11
Selling, general and administrative			201,442				259,944				58,502				29
Depreciation and amortization			859,820				804,037				(55,783	)			(6	)
Transaction costs			315,028				—				(315,028	)			NM
Impairment of asset value			390,444				499,100				108,656				28
Losses on derivative financial instruments			166,736				2,681				(164,055	)			(98	)
Total operating expenses			2,296,619				1,967,588				(329,031	)			(14	)
Income from operations			68,282				545,451				477,169				NM
Interest expense, net			1,375,733				1,362,823				(12,910	)			(1	)
Gain on early extinguishment of debt			576				4,697				4,121				NM
Other income (expense), net			(11,422	)			42,013				53,435				NM
Loss before income taxes			(1,318,297	)			(770,662	)			547,635				(42	)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes			(120,037	)			11,399				131,436				NM
Net loss			(1,198,260	)			(782,061	)			416,199				(35	)%
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest			93				369				276				NM
Net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A.		$	(1,198,167	)		$	(781,692	)		$	416,475				(35	)%

Revenue

The following table sets forth our comparative revenue by service type, with Off-Network and Other Revenues shown separate from On-Network Revenues, for the periods shown (in thousands, except percentages):

 

		Predecessor Entity				Successor Entity				Combined				Successor Entity
		Period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008				Period February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2009				Increase (Decrease)				Percentage Change
On-Network Revenues
Transponder services		$	140,756			$	1,570,433			$	1,711,189			$	1,795,477			$	84,288				5	%
Managed services			24,392				294,385				318,777				338,607				19,830				6
Channel			12,525				132,168				144,693				133,660				(11,033	)			(8	)
Total on-network revenues			177,673				1,996,986				2,174,659				2,267,744				93,085				4

 

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		Predecessor Entity				Successor Entity				Combined				Successor Entity
		Period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008				Period February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2009				Increase (Decrease)				Percentage Change
Off-Network and Other Revenues
Transponder, MSS and other off-network services			9,417				131,526				140,943				160,660				19,717				14
Satellite-related services			3,171				46,128				49,299				84,635				35,336				72
Total off-network and other revenues			12,588				177,654				190,242				245,295				55,053				29
Total		$	190,261			$	2,174,640			$	2,364,901			$	2,513,039			$	148,138				6	%

Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2009 increased by $148.1 million, or 6%, as compared to the combined year ended December 31, 2008. Included in the year ended December 31, 2009 was revenue of $44.2 million earned from the resale of launch vehicles and related services, a business which we do not currently intend to pursue in the future. By service type, our revenue increased or decreased due to the following:

On-Network Revenues:

 

•

Transponder services—an aggregate increase of $84.3 million, primarily due to a net increase of $108.3 million in revenue from network services customers, resulting from strong renewals and new business primarily in the Latin America and Caribbean, the Europe and the Africa and Middle East regions, as well as growth in services sold by our Intelsat General business, resulting from new business, service expansions and strong renewals primarily in the North America region, a portion of which was related to capacity resold from third parties. These increases were partially offset by a $24.0 million decline in revenue from media customers primarily due to the conclusion of two contracts in 2008, one in the Africa and Middle East region and one in the North America region, as well as a decline in the Latin America and Caribbean regions.

 

•

Managed services—an aggregate increase of $19.8 million, primarily due to an increase in revenue from network services customers, resulting from new business and service expansions in trunking and private line solutions primarily in the Africa and Middle East region and an increase in managed network solutions sold by our Intelsat General business.

 

•

Channel—an aggregate decrease of $11.0 million related to continued declines from the migration of point-to-point satellite traffic to fiber optic cables across transoceanic routes and the optimization of customer networks, a trend which we expect will continue.

 

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Off-Network and Other Revenues:

 

•

Transponder, MSS and other off-network services—an aggregate increase of $19.7 million, primarily due to an $18.7 million increase in revenues from transponder services and a $2.8 million increase in MSS revenues from usage-based mobile services, both of which were related to customers of our Intelsat General business.

 

•

Satellite-related services—an aggregate increase of $35.3 million, resulting primarily from $44.2 million in launch vehicle resale revenues recorded during the year ended December 31, 2009, with no similar resales occurring during the year ended December 31, 2008.

Operating Expenses

Direct Costs of Revenue (Exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization)

Direct costs of revenue increased by $38.7 million, or 11%, to $401.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The increase was primarily due to the following:

 

•

an increase of $19.1 million primarily for mobile satellite services sold to customers of our Intelsat General business;

 

•

an increase of $8.6 million related to launch vehicle resale costs incurred by our satellite related services business;

 

•

an increase of $3.9 million in staff expenses primarily related to the adoption of the 2008 Share Plan and equity grants to employees during 2009; and

 

•

an increase of $3.2 million related to earth station operations.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $58.5 million, or 29%, to $259.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $54.8 million in costs related to the adoption of the 2008 Share Plan and equity grants to employees during 2009.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased by $55.8 million, or 6%, to $804.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to the combined year ended December 31, 2008. This decrease was primarily due to:

 

•

a net decrease of $60.4 million in depreciation expense due to certain satellites, ground and other assets becoming fully depreciated, the impairment of Galaxy 26 in 2008 and changes in estimated remaining useful lives of certain satellites; and

 

•

a decrease of $18.3 million in amortization expense primarily due to changes in the expected pattern of consumption of amortizable intangible assets; partially offset by

 

•

an increase of $26.5 million in depreciation expense resulting from the impact of satellites placed into service during the second half of 2008 and the third quarter of 2009; and

 

•

an increase of $2.5 million in depreciation expense attributable to the write-up of our depreciable assets to fair value upon the closing of the New Sponsors Acquisition.

 

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Impairment of Asset Value

Impairment of asset value was $499.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to $390.4 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The charge incurred during the year ended December 31, 2009 was the result of higher effective interest rates on our new debt issuances which, in our view, reflected higher discounts being applied in the valuation of companies generally, and were therefore considered by us to be an indicator of potential impairment to the carrying value of our right to operate at orbital locations. The higher interest rate resulted in an increase to our weighted average cost of capital, and led to our recognizing a non-cash impairment charge of $499.1 million in the first quarter of 2009.

Transaction Costs

Transaction costs of $315.0 million were incurred during the combined year ended December 31, 2008 upon consummation of the New Sponsors Acquisition, with no similar costs incurred during the year ended December 31, 2009.

Losses on Derivative Financial Instruments

Losses on derivative financial instruments were $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to $166.7 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The losses on our derivative financial instruments related to our interest rate swaps.

Interest Expense, Net

Interest expense, net consists of the gross interest expense we incur less the amount of interest we capitalize related to capital assets under construction and less interest income earned. We also held interest rate swaps with an aggregate notional amount of $3.3 billion to economically hedge the variability in cash flow on a portion of the floating-rate term loans under our senior secured and unsecured credit facilities. The swaps have not been designated as hedges for accounting purposes. Interest expense, net decreased by $12.9 million, or 1%, to $1.36 billion for the year ended December 31, 2009, as compared to $1.38 billion for the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The decrease in interest expense was principally due to the following:

 

•

a decrease of $96.3 million due to lower interest rates on our variable rate debt in 2009 as compared to 2008; and

 

•

an increase of $13.1 million in capitalized interest expense; partially offset by

 

•

an increase of approximately $68.5 million due to a higher principal amount outstanding of the 2017 PIK Notes, partially offset by a decrease in interest expense resulting from the purchase of a portion of the 2017 PIK Notes with proceeds from the 2009 Jackson Notes Offering (as defined below in “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-term Debt—Long-Term Debt Changes in 2009”);

 

•

an increase of approximately $15.3 million due to the incurrence or assumption of approximately $3.7 billion of net additional indebtedness and the refinancing of portions of our debt at higher interest rates in connection with the New Sponsors Acquisition;

 

•

an increase of $5.4 million due to a higher principal amount of debt and higher interest rates resulting from the repurchase or repayment of certain notes or loans in connection with our change of control offers that were completed in the second and third quarters of 2008; and

 

•

an increase of $4.8 million related to the additional indebtedness incurred in connection with the offering of the 2015 Senior Notes.

The non-cash portion of total interest expense, net was $423.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 and included $298 million of PIK interest expense.

 

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Gain on Early Extinguishment of Debt

Gain on early extinguishment of debt was $4.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to $0.6 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The increase of $4.1 million was primarily related to a $19.7 million gain on early extinguishment of debt due to the paydown of $400.0 million face amount of the 2017 PIK Notes in October 2009. This was partially offset by a $15.0 million loss on early extinguishment of debt recognized in connection with Intelsat Sub Holdco’s purchase of $114.2 million of Intelsat, Ltd.’s outstanding 7 ⁵/₈% Senior Notes due 2012 (the “2012 Intelsat S.A. Notes”) for $93.3 million and $346.5 million of Intelsat, Ltd.’s outstanding 6 ¹/₂% Senior Notes due 2013 for $254.6 million pursuant to a tender offer (see “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Long-Term Debt—2009 Debt Transactions”). The loss was primarily driven by the difference between the carrying value of the notes purchased and the cash paid for the purchase, as a result of the higher unamortized discount recorded in connection with the New Sponsors Acquisition, when our pre-acquisition long-term debt was adjusted to fair value as of the effective date of the transaction.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income, net was $42.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to $11.4 million other expense, net for the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The increase of $53.4 million was primarily related to equity method and impairment losses of $17.6 million recorded during the year ended December 31, 2008, a $27.3 million gain from the sale of our equity ownership in WildBlue in the fourth quarter of 2009, and a net $13.9 million increase in exchange rate gains, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening against the Brazilian real, which impacts our service contracts with our Brazilian customers. Offsetting these increases were a $3.8 million decrease in miscellaneous income, driven by income in 2008 resulting from a reduction in the amounts we were required to pay under a customer contract as a result of an amendment, and a $1.8 million decrease related to a realized gain on our available-for-sale investments in 2008 compared to a realized loss in 2009.

Provision for (Benefit from) Income Taxes

Our provision for income taxes increased by $131.4 million to $11.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to a benefit of $120.0 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2008. The increase in expense was principally due to higher earnings in our historical subsidiaries subject to U.S. and U.K. tax as compared to the prior year period primarily due to one-time transaction costs, losses on derivative financial instruments and impairment charges taken in 2008, which exceeded the amounts in 2009. The tax expense reported in our consolidated statements of operations was mostly attributable to U.S. and U.K. taxes, as well as withholding taxes on revenue earned in many of our foreign markets.

EBITDA

EBITDA consists of earnings before net interest, gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt, taxes and depreciation and amortization. Given our high level of leverage, refinancing activities are a frequent part of our efforts to manage our costs of borrowing. Accordingly, we consider (gain) loss on early extinguishment of debt an element of interest expense. EBITDA is a measure commonly used in the FSS sector, and we present EBITDA to enhance the understanding of our operating performance. We use EBITDA as one criterion for evaluating our performance relative to that of our peers. We believe that EBITDA is an operating performance measure, and not a liquidity measure, that provides investors and analysts with a measure of operating results unaffected by differences in capital structures, capital investment cycles and ages of related assets among otherwise comparable companies. However, EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under U.S. GAAP, and our EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to operating income (loss) or net income (loss), determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of our operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of cash flows, or as a measure of liquidity.

 

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A reconciliation of net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A. to EBITDA for the periods shown is as follows (in thousands):

 

		Combined						Successor Entity
		Year Ended December 31, 2008						Year Ended December 31, 2009				Year Ended December 31, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011
Net loss		$	(1,198,260	)				$	(782,061	)		$	(507,769	)		$	(392,693	)		$	(432,350	)
Add:
Interest expense, net			1,375,733						1,362,823				1,379,019				1,035,018				992,084
(Gain) loss on early extinguishment of debt			(576	)					(4,697	)			76,849				75,805				326,183
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes			(120,037	)					11,399				(26,378	)			(54,919	)			(48,931	)
Depreciation and amortization			859,820						804,037				798,817				596,989				583,196
EBITDA		$	916,680					$	1,391,501			$	1,720,538			$	1,260,200			$	1,420,182

Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA

In addition to EBITDA, we calculate a measure called Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA to assess the operating performance of Intelsat S.A. Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA consists of EBITDA of Intelsat S.A. as adjusted to exclude or include certain unusual items, certain other operating expense items and certain other adjustments as described in the table and related footnotes below. Our management believes that the presentation of Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors, lenders and financial analysts regarding our financial condition and results of operations because it permits clearer comparability of our operating performance between periods. By excluding the potential volatility related to the timing and extent of non-operating activities, such as impairments of asset value and gains (losses) on derivative financial instruments, our management believes that Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA provides a useful means of evaluating the success of our operating activities. We also use Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA, together with other appropriate metrics, to set goals for and measure the operating performance of our business, and it is one of the principal measures we use to evaluate our management’s performance in determining compensation under our incentive compensation plans. Adjusted EBITDA measures have been used historically by investors, lenders and financial analysts to estimate the value of a company, to make informed investment decisions and to evaluate performance. Our management believes that the inclusion of Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA facilitates comparison of our results with those of companies having different capital structures.

Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under U.S. GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to operating income (loss) or net income (loss), determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of our operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of cash flows, or as a measure of liquidity.

 

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A reconciliation of net loss to Intelsat S.A. EBITDA and Intelsat S.A. EBITDA to Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA is as follows (in thousands):

 

		Combined						Successor Entity
		Year Ended December 31, 2008						Year Ended December 31, 2009				Year Ended December 31, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011
Net loss		$	(1,198,260)					$	(782,061)			$	(507,769)			$	(392,693)			$	(432,350)
Add (Subtract):
Interest expense, net			1,375,733						1,362,823				1,379,019				1,035,018				992,084
Loss on early extinguishment of debt			(576)						(4,697)				76,849				75,805				326,183
Benefit from income taxes			(120,037)						11,399				(26,378)				(54,919)				(48,931)
Depreciation and amortization			859,820						804,037				798,817				596,989				583,196
Intelsat S.A. EBITDA			916,680						1,391,501				1,720,538				1,260,200				1,420,182
Add (Subtract):
Compensation and benefits (1)			5,420						61,229				21,124				(4,307)				4,275
Management fees (2)			10,240						23,188				24,711				18,534				18,650
Earnings (loss) from previously unconsolidated affiliates (3)			17,111						(517)				(503)				(377)				24,658
Impairment of asset value (4)			390,444						499,100				110,625				110,625				—
Loss on derivative financial instruments (5)			166,736						2,681				89,509				90,592				24,163
Gain on sale of investment (6)			—						(27,333)				(1,261)				(1,260)				—
Non-recurring and other non-cash items (7)			345,551						23,475				24,542				12,078				10,672
Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDA		$	1,852,182					$	1,973,324			$	1,989,285			$	1,486,085			$	1,502,600

 

(1)	Reflects non-cash expenses incurred relating to our equity compensation plans and a portion of the expenses related to our defined benefit retirement plan and other postretirement benefits.

(2)	Reflects expenses incurred in connection with the monitoring fee agreement to provide certain monitoring, advisory and consulting services to our subsidiaries.

(3)	Represents gains and losses under the equity method of accounting relating to our investment in Horizons Holdings. In addition, includes the charge from the remeasurement of our investment in Horizons Holdings to fair value upon the consolidation of the joint venture on September 30, 2011.

(4)

Represents the non-cash impairment charge in 2008 of $63.6 million for the write-down of the Galaxy 26 satellite to its estimated fair value after a partial loss of the satellite, as well as $326.8 million due to the impairment of our rights to operate at orbital locations. The non-cash impairment charge in 2009 relates to a further impairment of our rights to operate at orbital locations. The non-cash impairment charge in 2010 includes $104.1 million for the write-down in the value of our Galaxy 15 satellite to its estimated fair value following an anomaly and $6.5 million for the non-cash write-off of our IS-4 satellite, which was deemed to be unrecoverable due to an anomaly, including a write-off of the related deferred performance incentive obligations.

(5)

Represents (i) the changes in the fair value of the undesignated interest rate swaps, (ii) the difference between the amount of floating rate interest we receive and the amount of fixed rate interest we pay under such swaps and (iii) the change in the fair value of our put option embedded derivative related to the 2015 Intelsat Sub Holdco Notes, Series B, all of which are recognized in operating income.

(6)	Represents the gain on the sale of our shares of Viasat, Inc. common stock (received as consideration in the sale of our investment in WildBlue to Viasat, Inc.) during the nine months ended September 30, 2010.

 

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(7)

Reflects certain non-recurring gains and losses and non-cash items, including costs associated with the 2011 Reorganization, costs related to the migration of our jurisdiction of organization from Bermuda to Luxembourg, transaction costs related to the Sponsors Acquisition and expense for services on the Galaxy 13/Horizons-1 and Horizons-2 satellites prior to the consolidation of Horizons Holdings, partially offset by non-cash income related to the recognition of deferred revenue on a straight-line basis of certain prepaid capacity contracts.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

We are a highly leveraged company and our contractual obligations, commitments and debt service requirements over the next several years are significant. Our interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $1.38 billion, which included $342.0 million of non-cash interest expense. Our primary source of liquidity is cash generated from operations as well as existing cash. At September 30, 2011, cash and cash equivalents were approximately $295.4 million and our total indebtedness was approximately $16.0 billion. In addition, we had $462.0 million available for borrowing under our senior secured revolving credit facility at September 30, 2011.

We currently expect to use cash on hand, cash flows from operations and availability under our senior secured credit facilities to fund our most significant cash outlays, including debt service requirements and capital expenditures, in the next twelve months, and expect such sources to be sufficient to fund our present requirements over that time. In addition, we may from time to time retain any future earnings to purchase, repay, redeem or retire any of our outstanding debt securities in privately negotiated or open market transactions, by tender offer or otherwise.

Cash Flow Items

Our cash flows consisted of the following for the periods shown (in thousands):

 

		Predecessor Entity						Successor Entity				Combined				Successor Entity
		Period January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008						Period February 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2008				Year Ended December 31, 2009				Year Ended December 31, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	19,619					$	876,143			$	895,762			$	873,656			$	1,018,218			$	621,020			$	673,220
Net cash used in investing activities			(24,701)						(409,897)				(434,598)				(947,095)				(954,614)				(657,379)				(620,612)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities			(22,304)						(1,504,431)				(1,526,735)				73,001				150,698				208,593				(453,022)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents			(27,249)						(1,044,426)				(1,071,675)				7,360				215,359				173,653				(397,509)

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $52.2 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2010. During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, cash flows from operating activities reflected a $267.8 million cash inflow related to deferred revenu