By Vipal Monga And Ryan Knutson
Verizon Communications Inc. has no desire to sell the Huffington
Post or buy Dish Network Corp., Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo
said at a Wall Street Journal conference Monday.
Verizon agreed last month to pay $4.4 billion for AOL Inc.,
which owns several media properties including the Huffington Post
and TechCrunch. The carrier has said its main interest in the deal
was AOL's digital advertising technology, which it plans to
incorporate into a mobile-first video service launching later this
year. But Mr. Shammo said Verizon likes all of AOL's portfolio and
wants to keep it together.
Mr. Shammo also said the company has no interest in acquiring
Dish Network Corp. Dish is currently in talks to merge with
T-Mobile US Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
Some observers have speculated Verizon might swoop in and try to
buy Dish to get hold of the satellite broadcaster's huge stores of
wireless spectrum. But Mr. Shammo said if Verizon wanted more
spectrum, it could have bought it at a recent government
auction.
When asked if Verizon had any interest in Dish, Mr. Shammo said,
"My answer is going to be one word: No."
To be sure, Verizon has changed its mind in the past. Earlier
this year, Chief Executive Lowell McAdam said the carrier wasn't
looking to buy AOL after rumors surfaced the companies were in
talks. While filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
indicate the companies at the time were only talking about possible
partnerships, Mr. McAdam apparently later changed his mind, and a
deal was announced in May.
Write to Vipal Monga at vipal.monga@wsj.com and Ryan Knutson at
ryan.knutson@wsj.com
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