Today, Yahsat completed the acquisition of a majority and controlling stake in the mobile satellite services operator Thuraya. Ali Al Hashemi, who has led Yahsat Government Solutions, Yahsat’s specialised unit fulfilling defence and governmental client requirements, for the past few years is announced as the new CEO of Thuraya, while former CEO Ahmed Al Shamsi will remain as Advisor to the CEO. Ali Al Hashemi, will at the same time continue to be General Manager of Yahsat Government Solutions.

Commenting on the Thuraya acquisition, Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, CEO of Yahsat stated: “The Thuraya acquisition provides us with an ideal opportunity to grow and diversify our business, bolstering our satellite solutions capabilities on both government and commercial fronts. By integrating the portfolios of the two companies under the leadership of Ali Al Hashemi, we will together be able to offer a comprehensive mobile and fixed satellite services portfolio, further strengthening our value proposition to our customers. We are excited about growing together and understanding how we can work in unison, share new ideas, and ultimately serve our customers better.”

Yahsat has also named Marcus Vilaςa as Thuraya’s Chief Technical Officer. Marcus will continue his role in Yahsat as the Chief Technical Officer in addition to his newly announced role in Thuraya. Marcus brings over 35 years of experience in the satellite industry, acquired from Embratel, SES, Inmarsat and Yahsat, importantly bringing invaluable experience from the mobile satellite services sector.

Shawkat Ahmed is appointed as Thuraya’s Chief Commercial Officer succeeding Rashid Baba’s tenure as Thuraya’s Acting Chief Commercial Officer. Shawkat carries over 22 years of experience in satellite communications attained through occupying senior commercial leadership roles in Yahsat, Thuraya and Telstra V-Comm.

Ali Al Hashemi, CEO of Thuraya stated: “I would like to thank Ahmed Al Shamsi for his exceptional leadership and contribution towards building Thuraya into a global mobile satellite services player throughout his tenure spanning more than two decades with Thuraya, Ahmed is a true veteran in the satellite industry, Thuraya will benefit from his expertise through his advisory role.”

The acquisition of the UAE’s first homegrown satellite operator, Thuraya, is set to significantly expand Yahsat’s current satellite solutions portfolio on both commercial and government fronts and creates a strong platform to capture the growing opportunity around IoT and M2M applications across both sectors.

Thuraya’s two satellites, serving over 160 countries, will join the Yahsat fleet, expanding the group’s satellite fleet to five. The combination of geostationary satellites operating in the C, Ka, Ku and L-bands will jointly cover Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Asia, providing a broad range of Fixed and Mobile Satellite Services spanning voice and data communications to both commercial and government sectors.