Inmarsat surges on report of renewed EchoStar interest

Shares in Inmarsat rallied on Thursday after CTFN cited a senior executive in the sector as saying that US rival EchoStar may renew its interest in the satellite communications company soon and no later than the next six months.

Back in July of last year, the US satellite group said it was walking away from its pursuit of Inmarsat after the London-listed company rejected a second takeover offer.

Inmarsat said at the time that the second proposal, at an equivalent of 532p a share, "significantly" undervalued the company and its standalone prospects and that it remained "highlight confident" in its independent strategy.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Wilton Fry said at the time that this was a "low ball" offer, especially given the potential £10 per share of spectrum value that EchoStar could derive from owning Inmarsat.

At 1555 GMT, the shares were up 6.5% to 401.72p.