SES Americom SES Americom traces its roots back to
RCA Americom, formed in 1975. RCA Americom was notable for launching the
Satcom series of satellites which were instrumental in helping early American cable TV channels gain traction. In 1986,
General Electric acquired RCA and renamed the Americom unit to
GE Americom. Fifteen years later, in 2001, GE sold its GE Americom unit to SES (Société Européenne des Satellites) for US$5 billion in cash and stock.
SES New Skies In 1998,
Intelsat transferred 5 of its 24 satellites to New Skies Satellites N.V., a
Dutch start up company formed by
Intelsat to help move
Intelsat towards privatisation. In June 2004, New Skies Satellites was sold to
The Blackstone Group for US$956 million. Eighteen months later,
SES Global (formerly Société Européenne des Satellites, now
SES, the operators of
Astra) agreed to purchase New Skies from Blackstone for US$1.16 billion. In September 2006, the company name was changed from New Skies Satellites to
SES New Skies.
Internal mergers In September 2009, SES New Skies and
SES Americom were merged to form SES World Skies. In September 2011, SES World Skies and
SES Astra were merged into
SES to streamline operations under a single management system. == See also ==