A private equity consortium led by Blackstone of the US has unveiled plans to float New Skies Satellite, a Bermuda-based global satellite operator, less than six months after buying it for $982.8m (€757.3m).

In January, Blackstone raised $800m from a controversial flotation of Celanese, the German petrochemicals company it had bought nearly nine months earlier. Blackstone, which had originally sought $1.05bn from the Celanese float, also paid itself $100m in special fees at the time of the listing.