DirecTV has announced it is officially buying satellite rival Dish Network after years of potential deals between the two entities falling through.
Under the purchase agreement, DirecTV will buy Dish Network from parent company EchoStar for $1, with the AT&T owned provider assume all of the debt Dish Network holds. After the deal is completed, AT&T will then sell its remaining 70% stake in DirecTV to private equity firm TPG. After buying DirecTV in 2015, AT&T sold at 30% stake in the company to TPG, who will then solely own the satellite provider when the deal is complete.
The deal does need to be approved by bondholders from Dish, which would require them to agree on a lower debt of $1.56 billion, down from the more than $2 billion the company currently holds.
Should the deal go forward, DirecTV plans to utilize both brands, as well as the streaming Sling TV brand held by Dish.
The deal merging the two companies happens more than two decades after the U.S. government blocked a proposed $19 billion merger of the company in 2002. At the time, EchoStar was forced to pay a $600 million breakup fee to then DirecTV owner Hughes Electronics. There were reports as far back as 2014 that the CEO of the two companies were exploring a merger, but could never come to a concrete agreement.
A merger would see roughly 20 million subscribers between the two brands. In 2015, the two brands combined would have featured around 35 million subscribers.
