European satellite operator SES has announced the appointment of Elisabeth Pataki as its next Chief Financial Officer (CFO), taking effect on June 16, 2025. Pataki currently serves as CFO for L3Harris unit Aerojet Rocketdyne, and brings with her a distinguished background in the aerospace and defense sector, with proven expertise in overseeing financial operations and leading complex mergers and acquisitions.

Pataki’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for SES, which is headquartered in Luxembourg and recognized as one of the world’s largest satellite companies. The company is in the midst of a $3.1 billion acquisition of Intelsat, a transaction that stands out as one of the satellite industry’s most significant deals over the past decade. This move aims to consolidate SES’s position in a rapidly evolving sector, where competition has intensified, notably due to the disruptive entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Pataki will succeed Sandeep Jalan as CFO, overseeing SES’s financial strategy during a time when the company is managing over $5 billion in debt as of the previous year. According to recent financial data, SES’s five-year credit default swap (CDS) spreads—a measure of perceived credit risk among investors—stood at 235 basis points as of Thursday, reflecting an improvement from all-time highs recorded earlier in the year.

SES confirmed in April that it had fully secured financing for the Intelsat acquisition, although the deal still awaits approval from European antitrust authorities. The acquisition is expected to strengthen SES’s ability to compete on a global scale, particularly as satellite communications paradigms shift in response to the mounting presence of new entrants and evolving technologies.

Elisabeth Pataki’s experience in finance integration during major sectoral mergers is expected to support SES as it navigates this transformation. Her leadership at Aerojet Rocketdyne involved overseeing financial integration on multiple high-profile deals within the aerospace and defense landscape.

The transition in SES’s financial leadership marks a crucial moment for the company. As it pushes ahead with the Intelsat acquisition, industry observers will be monitoring closely to see how SES balances financial stability, growth ambitions, and the competitive pressures reshaping the satellite communications market.

For further details, the official announcement can be accessed via Reuters and the Yahoo Finance report.