SOCIÉTÉ EUROPÉENNE DES SATELLITES (SES) sets price of luf 6,000 per fdr (us$ 160), valuing the company at luf 223.4 billion (us$ 6 billion)

Following strong demand in Luxembourg and internationally, Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), the operator of ASTRA, Europe's leading direct-to-home satellite system, today announced the successful completion of its Initial Public Offering, with details of the pricing and allocation.

The Offering consists of Fiduciary Depositary Receipts (FDRs), with each FDR issued in respect of one underlying A share. SES will not receive any proceeds from the Offering. The FDRs will be listed tomorrow (July 6th) on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and will also be quoted on SEAQ International in London.

Pricing

• Initial Public Offering of 6,206,000 FDRs at LUF 6,000 per FDR.
• SES valued at LUF 223.4 billion (US$ 6 billion) at the offer price.
• The Offering was more than 6 times oversubscribed.
• Net proceeds of the Offering of LUF 37.2 billion (US$ 1 billion) (before any exercise of the over-allotment option).

Dealings

• Listing and conditional dealings to commence on July 6, 1998 on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange at 12.15 pm (Luxembourg time).
• Unconditional dealings to commence on July 9, 1998 on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Some 27% of the Offering (excluding reserved FDRs) was allocated to Luxembourg retail and institutional investors.

Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter were the joint global co-ordinators and joint lead managers of the international Offering.

Banque Générale du Luxembourg was the lead manager of the Luxembourg Offering.

Over-Allotment Option

In connection with the Offering, selling shareholders have granted the joint global co-ordinators an option exercisable up to 30 days after the closing date of the Offering to purchase up to 755,183 FDRs, solely to cover any over allotments.

Commenting on the Offering, Mr. René Steichen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Société Européenne des Satellites said: "We are delighted with the huge success of the Initial Public Offering and we welcome our new shareholders, both private and institutional."

Commenting on the level of demand, Mr. Romain Bausch, Director General and Chairman of the Management Committee said: "The overall demand demonstrates the investor community's recognition of our unique position, and their belief in the growth prospects of the company."

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BACKGROUND ON SES

SES is the leading European broadcast satellite operator. As of December 31, 1997, of all European households receiving TV by either satellite or cable, approximately 70 million (93 per cent) received one or more channels via the ASTRA system. ASTRA now reaches some 43 per cent of all European TV households.

SES' satellites are principally used to broadcast television and radio programming to households via individual reception direct-to-home (DTH) dishes, communal reception (SMATV) dishes, and cable operators who redistribute to their subscribers.

SES transmits via the ASTRA satellite system 99 analogue and 219 digital television channels and more than 190 analogue and digital radio channels over 120 transponders to 22 European countries.

SES' customer base includes most of the leading public and private broadcasters in Europe, notably the German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF; Canal+ (France); CLT-UFA (Luxembourg); BSkyB (UK); the Kirch Gruppe (Germany); Turner Broadcasting (USA) and Viacom (USA).

The ASTRA Satellite System currently comprises six geostationary (GEO) satellites at the position of 19.2° East - the largest number of satellites co-located at one single orbital slot. In addition, a seventh GEO satellite is temporarily located at SES' second orbital position at 28.2° East to permit the launch of satellite digital services in the UK and the Republic of Ireland later this year.

As a pioneer of interactive and multimedia services, SES is the majority shareholder in European Satellite Multimedia Services (ESM), which operates the ASTRA-NET platform, enabling service and content providers to transmit data directly, via satellite, to personal computers in businesses and homes across Europe.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

SES has four additional satellites under construction. These are expected to be launched between 1998 and 2000. Two satellites will provide back up capacity for the system at 19.2° East and will enable SES to expand and develop its digital and multimedia services as well as expand its geographic coverage in Eastern Europe. The other two satellites will be permanently positioned at 28.2° East, providing digital services to the UK and Ireland.

The Company's history is characterised by market-driven innovation. SES was the first European satellite operator to offer both analogue and digital broadcasting capacity and services to its clients. SES was also the first satellite operator worldwide to successfully apply the concept of co-locating satellites at the same orbital location (19.2° East) to exploit the entire frequency spectrum at such orbital location. SES expects to be the first European satellite operator to commercially exploit the Ka-band frequency for interactive and multimedia services in Europe. In 1999 SES expects to commence operations of ARCS (ASTRA Return Channel System) via satellite. ARCS will serve the growing market in Western and Central Europe for 2-way asymmetric, high-speed broadband collection and delivery of multimedia.

SES plans to continue its expansion, both into new geographic regions and into new services, and through the purchase of additional satellites, including Next Generation Systems (Ka-band sateIlites).