Reorganized ISA S.A. (Intelsat) has ended talks of a potential merger with fellow satellite operator SES S.A. (BDL:SESGL), a source close to the discussions told Via Satellite. Bloomberg first reported the news on June 21, 2023 afternoon. Talk of a potential merger between the two satellite giants has long been rumored, and SES confirmed in March that talks were underway.

But the two companies could not agree on certain business fundamentals, the source said. This news comes about a week after SES CEO Steve Collar announced his departure from the company. Analysts called the timing “odd,” as it comes in the middle of the operator’s O3b mPOWER launch campaign, and theorized it could be related to talks with Intelsat.

Intelsat said in a statement to Via Satellite that the company does not comment on potential mergers. “Intelsat engages in strategic conversations with potential partners on a regular basis, and we do not publicly comment on the content or outcome of those discussions,” the company said. Via Satellite has reached out to SES for comment.

This ends speculation and back-and-forth about a potential deal between the two largest satellite operators. The satellite industry is going through a period of consolidation to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation and Amazon’s planned Kuiper constellation. Viasat, for example, just closed its acquisition of Inmarsat, and Eutelsat is going through a deal to combine with Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) operator OneWeb.