Hedge fund manager Mark Rachesky is ready to launch a sale of Loral Space & Communications — and this time investors are hoping for liftoff.
Rachesky, who is Loral’s chairman and biggest shareholder with a 38 percent stake, is putting the New York satellite company on the block, sources told The Post.
The 55-year-old investor has recently put out feelers to potential suitors, a source close to the situation said.
While Rachesky, a medical doctor and a former protégé of Carl Icahn, is set on selling Loral, a holding company whose biggest asset is a 62.8 percent stake in Telesat, a Canadian satellite company, he has not yet hired a sell-side banker, a source said.
Some investors are hoping Rachesky’s tough negotiating tactics don’t foil any potential sale. In 2011, the investor rejected a $6 billion offer for Telesat, calling it too low. The auction was then canceled, sources said.
Private equity firms Carlyle, KKR and Providence Equity Partners each has bid for Telesat.
The Ottawa-based company owns a fleet of 13 in-orbit satellites that offer telecommunication services to the private sector and government from perches 22,000 miles above Earth.
At least one shareholder thinks Rachesky is already turning off potential bidders by setting an unrealistically high price tag. The shareholder, who asked not to be named, said it’s well-known among Loral investors that the hedgie has recently asked an “exorbitant” price for Loral, of over $100 a share, from private equity owned Intelsat.
Loral closed Friday at $68.85 and is up 26 percent year to date.
“He [Rachesky] fashions himself as a very tough negotiator,” this shareholder said. “But not all situations are created equal.”
Rachesky is developing a reputation for gaining controlling stakes in listed companies and rejecting what at the time seem like reasonable takeover offers.
His MHR Fund Management famously in 2007 turned down a $69 a share offer for Leap Wireless, believing it was worth more. In July, AT&T agreed to buy it for $15 a share.
On the other hand, his fund in 2010 successfully fought Icahn for movie studio Lionsgate, rejecting his $6.50 a share offer. Lionsgate closed Friday at $36.71.
Miller Tabak Senior Research Analyst Michael Broudo says Rachesky was right in 2011 not to sell Telesat. Broudo believes Rachesky can get $7 billion for Telesat.
Telesat since 2011 has launched four satellites, adding $100 million in EBITDA.
That, he believes, would make Loral worth about $10 more than its present trading price.
Telesat has no new satellite launches planned until late 2015, making this a good time to sell as earnings will likely not improve much for some time.
“It would make absolute sense for this to be happening now,” Broudo said. Loral, while controlling a majority economic interest in Telesat, does not have voting control, owning only 32.7 percent of the votes.
Rachesky declined to comment. Loral did not return calls.
jkosman@nypost.com