seismicfinancial2026-04-14

Amazon agrees to acquire Globalstar in $11.6 billion cash-and-stock deal

Amazon Leo will absorb Globalstar's satellite fleet and direct-to-device spectrum rights in a deal expected to close in 2027.

// sources · 2 attached

what happened

Amazon agreed April 14, 2026 to acquire Globalstar for up to $90 per share in cash or Amazon stock, a deal worth roughly $11.6 billion, per Amazon's own release. Globalstar shareholders holding about 58% of voting power approved the deal by written consent. Closing is expected in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and Globalstar meeting satellite-deployment milestones tied to its HIBLEO-4 replacement constellation, with up to $110 million of downward price adjustment if those milestones are missed, per Amazon and IoT Business News. Amazon said it will use Globalstar's direct-to-device spectrum licenses and more than 30 years of low Earth orbit satellite operations expertise to build a next-generation Amazon Leo direct-to-device system. Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs said the combination "will advance innovations in digital connectivity," and Apple SVP Greg Joswiak noted Apple and Amazon's existing infrastructure relationship, per Amazon's release.

why it matters

This is Amazon's entry into the direct-to-device satellite market via acquisition rather than a standalone spectrum filing, folding an established mobile-satellite-services spectrum holder, and its existing Apple relationship (Globalstar powers iPhone's Emergency SOS, Messages, Find My, and Roadside Assistance), into Amazon Leo. It sets up a three-way direct-to-device contest with SpaceX's Starlink Direct to Cell and AST SpaceMobile once the deal closes, and gave Amazon the spectrum base it built on three months later with its own FCC filing for a 5,105-satellite direct-to-device constellation.