WASHINGTON — Panasonic Corp., whose Panasonic Avionics subsidiary has cobbled together a global network of satellite bandwidth for an in-flight Internet service, has reached agreement to acquire ITC Global, which provides satellite connectivity to the energy, mining and maritime markets, the companies announced March 16.
Currently Houston-based ITC Global, which serves customers at 1,200 sites across 70 countries, is owned by Riverside Partners, a private equity firm based in Boston.
Financial terms of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, were not disclosed.
After the deal closes, ITC Global will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of Panasonic Aviation, a leading provider of in-flight communications and entertainment systems. Joe Spytek, ITC’s founder and chief executive, will stay on and report to Paul Margis, chief executive of Panasonic Avionics.
“Panasonic’s acquisition of ITC Global highlights the natural alignment of customers across the aviation, energy, mining and maritime markets, all of whom require mobile broadband, high reliability, global coverage and responsive customer service,” Margis said in a prepared statement.
Spytek, in an email to SpaceNews, said, “Panasonic has made significant investments in next-generation satellite technology and HTS coverage to ensure they have the capacity to build high reliability solutions for their aero customers as requirements continue to increase. ITC Global’s customers across the oil and gas, mining and maritime markets have similar network requirements and will benefit from Panasonic Avionics’ global satellite capacity across high demand regions.”
