Satellite firm bailed out by UK to be taken over by French rival

OneWeb, touted by Boris Johnson as a potential rival to Elon Musk's Starlink, provides communications services

A satellite company part-owned by the British government is due to be taken over by an EU rival this week, dashing hopes of fostering a UK firm to rival Elon Musk's Starlink following its taxpayer bailout at the height of the pandemic.

OneWeb, which provides services including broadband from its low-orbit satellites, will be taken over by one of its shareholders - the Paris-listed Eutelsat- in a deal that could be announced as early as Monday.