DirecTV is acquiring Dish Network and Sling TV, a combination that has been long rumored, from it’s owner EchoStar in a debt exchange transaction that includes a payment of $1, plus the assumption of debt, according to an official release.
“DirecTV operates in a highly competitive video distribution industry,” DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement. “With greater scale, we expect a combined DirecTV and Dish will be better able to work with programmers to realize our vision for the future of tv, which is to aggregate, curate, and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests, and to be better positioned to realize operating efficiencies while creating value for customers through additional investment.”
“With an improved financial profile, we will be better positioned to continue enhancing and deploying our nationwide 5G Open RAN wireless network,” EchoStar President and CEO Hamid Akhavan said. “This will provide U.S. wireless consumers with more choices and help to drive innovation at a faster pace.”
EchoStar disclosed that it had just $521 million in “cash on hand” and forecast negative cash flows for the remainder of the year while mentioning major looming debt payments, more that$1.98 billion of debt set to mature in November, per a recent securities filing.
Just ahead of the announcement AT&T stated that it was selling it’s remaining stake in DirecTV to the private equity firm TPG in a deal that is reportedly valued at about $7.6 billion, according to the Associated Press.
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