Inmarsat to blast off with £1.5bn float

Inmarsat, the UK company that owns nine satellites orbiting in space, is preparing a rapid-fire £1.5bn spring flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

The listing will test the City's appetite for telecoms companies as Inmarsat's offering is expected to be three times bigger than the last major listing - Virgin Mobile in July last year.

A final decision on the float will be taken on Thursday when Inmarsat launches its largest satellite to date, from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Costing $1.5bn (£780m), if the launch is successful, the London-based company is expected to announce plans to list weeks later. Andrew Sukawaty, chief executive of Inmarsat, said: "We will look towards an IPO after the launch. We have excellent cashflows; we are not a speculative investment."

In its last set of full-year results, to 31 December 2003, the company reported a $192.4m profit before tax on revenues of $504.2m. It is understood that Inmarsat recently held a "beauty parade" of investment banks to handle the float, and a decision on the winners will be made in the next few days.

A successful listing will see a handsome return for Inmarsat's shareholders, Apax Partners and Permira, which paid $1.5bn for it in 2003.

However, the company doesn't want to tempt fate by announcing a flotation before its latest satellite, dubbed F1, is launched. Commercial satellite launches have a one-in-five failure rate.

"We have had nine satellites that have launched without a hitch. I have great confidence about this one, so I am actually not nervous," said Mr Sukawaty.

If successful, the F1 satellite will become the largest communications satellite to be launched into space. The main body of the craft is roughly the size of a London double-decker bus, and its two solar power panels are 45 metres long.