Dish Network Buys EchoStar Broadcast Satellite Business
May 20 2019 - 7:09AM
Dow Jones News
By Patrick Thomas
Dish Network Corp. said Monday that it will acquire parts of
satellite company EchoStar Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at
about $800 million.
The Colorado-based Dish said it will acquire EchoStar's
broadcast satellite-service business, which includes nine direct
broadcast satellites and select real estate properties.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2019. Dish
said its expects the deal to create operational efficiencies and
improve its free cash flow.
Dish acquired certain EchoStar assets back in 2017.
"In 2017, when DISH acquired the EchoStar assets that we needed
to deliver the DISH TV and Sling TV customer experiences, key
broadcast satellite operations and services remained with
EchoStar," said Erik Carlson, Dish's chief executive, in prepared
remarks. "This transaction brings those operations, including the
BSS satellites, associated assets and key team members, in
house.
The U.S. pay-TV sector has been shrinking in recent years as
price-conscious cord-cutters drop expensive cable and satellite-TV
connections in search of other forms of entertainment. Dish offset
some of those losses by launching online-only Sling TV in 2015,
though growth in this market has also slowed in recent months.
Write to Patrick Thomas at Patrick.Thomas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2019 06:54 ET (10:54 GMT)
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