A consortium of four buyout firms which bought US-based Intelsat for $3bn (€2.2bn) in 2004 is reportedly now seeking to sell the satellite operator for $17bn. As part of the deal they are targeting a tenfold return on their original $515m equity investment.

People close to the situation told The Wall Street Journal that the decision to put the company up for auction resulted from an approach from The Blackstone Group. Blackstone declined to comment.