France’s Eutelsat confirms merger talks with UK satellite firm OneWeb

A French satellite company has confirmed it is in merger talks with British rival OneWeb, which is part-owned by the UK government, to create a competitor to ventures backed by Elon Musk and Amazon.

Eutelsat said it was in discussions with OneWeb, which provides broadband coverage from space, to create a business that would be 50/50 owned by shareholders in both companies. The British government owns nearly 20% of OneWeb, while the French and Chinese governments hold stakes of 20% and 5%…