Yahsat, UAE-based global satellite operator owned by Mubadala Investment Company, has acquired a majority and controlling stake in the mobile satellite services operator Thuraya
With this acquisition, Thuraya has announced Ali Al Hashemi as the new CEO of the company. Former CEO Ahmed Al Shamsi will remain as advisor to the new CEO.
Masood M Sharif Mahmood, CEO of Yahsat, stated, “The Thuraya acquisition provides us with an ideal opportunity to grow and diversify our business, bolstering our satellite solutions capabilities on both government and commercial fronts.”
Marcus Vilaςa has been named as Thuraya's chief technical officer by Yahsat. He has more than 35 years of experience in the satellite industry, acquired from Embratel, SES, Inmarsat and Yahsat.
The acquisition of the UAE's first home grown satellite operator, Thuraya, is set to significantly expand Yahsat's current satellite solutions portfolio on both commercial and government fronts and will create a strong platform to capture the growing opportunity around IoT and M2M applications across both sectors.
Thuraya's two satellites, serving more than 160 countries, will join the Yahsat fleet, expanding the group's satellite fleet to five. The combination of geostationary satellites operating in the C, Ka, Ku and L-bands will jointly cover Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia, providing a broad range of fixed and mobile satellite services spanning voice and data communications to both commercial and government sectors.
