Hunter and Panasonic Avionics: Facilitating a multi-party agreement
Hunter provided Panasonic the help it needed with multi-party negotiations necessary for a competitive entertainment service offering.
The Challenge
In-flight entertainment is quickly becoming standard on most flights, and Panasonic Avionics Corp has been one of the world’s leading providers of internet and in-flight entertainment solutions for commercial airlines. Since Panasonic’s inception of its first satellite network, Hunter has worked for and with Panasonic to assist in the analysis and procurement of satellite capacity and teleport services worldwide. Early in the process, few satellites were designed for coverage over the world’s oceans. For what little appropriate capacity existed, Panasonic had to compete with a growing maritime industry that was seeking much of the same capacity. Shortages of key bandwidth segments were inevitable.
The Solution
Hunter facilitated and served as the trusted advisor for a multi-party transaction involving Panasonic, MTN, Intelsat General, and Telesat. Hunter provided a solution for both Panasonic and Telesat through its innovative approach and market understanding whereby the firm negotiated with MTN to transition off a Telesat transponder to a satellite that Hunter secured with coverage better suited to MTN’s needs.
Simultaneously, Hunter facilitated an agreement between Telesat and Panasonic whereby Panasonic committed to the Telesat transponder for five years. Panasonic, in turn, sold the first twelve months of Panasonic’s newly gained capacity to Hunter, who in turn provided it for use by Intelsat General to fulfill their shorter term requirement.
This multi-party agreement is a testament to Hunter’s ability to work with and understand the unique needs of individual industry participants.