Hanwha Systems Co. completed the sale of its entire 5.4% holding in Eutelsat Communications SA for ₩120 billion ($88.5 million), marking a painful exit from the Franco-British satellite operator at a steep loss.
The South Korean defense contractor’s divestiture represents a ₩200 billion loss from its original ₩345 billion ($300 million) investment in OneWeb in 2021. The stake’s value has fallen by more than 70% since the initial purchase, highlighting the challenges facing satellite internet providers competing against Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Hanwha said the sale was “not driven by an investment perspective but by a strategic shift to focus more on its core business operations,” according to a company statement. The move reflects plans to concentrate on defense-related satellites and military communications rather than civilian satellite operations.
The transaction underscores Eutelsat’s ongoing struggles as it seeks fresh capital to fund its next-generation low Earth orbit constellation. The satellite operator has piled up hundreds of millions of euros in losses, particularly from its waning video business, while its 2023 acquisition of OneWeb has yet to yield the results it had hoped for due to intensifying competition and technology deployment delays.
Hanwha’s shareholding was diluted from an original 8.8% when OneWeb merged with France’s Eutelsat in 2023, creating a combined geostationary and low-orbit satellite operator. A Hanwha representative resigned from Eutelsat’s board in April, signaling the Korean company’s diminishing involvement.
Eutelsat’s Paris-listed shares fell 14.8% following the announcement, though bond yields improved as investors welcomed the prospect of new capital. The company recently appointed a new chief executive and is searching for a chairman after leadership departures earlier this year.
Despite exiting its equity position, Hanwha will maintain its role as OneWeb’s exclusive Korean distributor through 2030, supporting government satellite communications projects. The arrangement allows the company to participate in South Korea’s military low Earth orbit satellite network development while shedding direct ownership risk in the competitive commercial satellite market.
