french satellite group eutelsatThe company, which is seen as Europe’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink, plunged on Wednesday after reports that Japanese investor SoftBank had cut its stake in the company.
Eutelsat stock was trading down 7.2% as of 4:41 a.m. ET.
The move follows a Reuters report that SoftBank sold about 26 million shares and the rights to 36 million shares, about half of the satellite carrier’s stake.
Eutelsat is the owner of satellite internet provider OneWeb, which they merged with in 2023 to counter Starlink’s market dominance.
But the French group has struggled to capture market share from U.S. companies. Eutelsat currently has more than 600 satellites in orbit, while Starlink has more than 6,750 satellites, according to the companies’ websites.
Eutelsat shares, which soared more than 600% in early March, have since fallen more than 70% as Europe scrambles to strengthen its technological sovereignty following cuts in U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
The company is seen as crucial to Europe’s technological sovereignty ambitions. In June, France took the lead in investing 1.35 billion euros ($1.57 billion) in Eutelsat, making it the company’s largest shareholder with an approximately 30% stake.
Eutelsat and SoftBank have been contacted for comment.
