A Dish Network satellite dish (L) is mounted next to a DirecTV antenna on the roof of an apartment in San Rafael, California, on April 15, 2013.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
DirecTV abandons acquisition dish A DirecTV spokesperson said the assets were sold after a group of bondholders refused to accept the terms of the proposed debt offer.
“A successful exchange was a condition of the acquisition of Dish’s video business,” a spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. “Given the outcome of the EchoStar exchange, DirecTV has no choice but to terminate its acquisition of Dish by midnight on November 22nd.”
DirecTV has no plans to make any further concessions, said the people, who requested anonymity because the information is confidential. Further progress could be made if Mr. Disch and co-founder and chairman Charlie Ergen come to the negotiating table, one of the people said, but that seems unlikely at this point.
DirecTV will soon be wholly owned by a private equity firm TPGwas supposed to assume about $10 billion worth of Dish’s debt and pay a nominal $1 to acquire Dish DBS, which includes both Dish and Sling TV. However, the original agreement was soon challenged by a group of bondholders. DirecTV made a revised proposal that would value the Dish bonds at just over 70 cents on the dollar.
Bloomberg first reported on DirecTV’s plans.
Those bondholders, who make up a significant portion of Dish’s creditor base, rejected the new offer earlier this week.
If the deal is likely to fall through, Dish will be in dire financial straits. Pay TV has been in long-term, accelerated decline, and Dish’s parent company echo star Results released Tuesday disappointed investors, and the stock price plummeted nearly 13%.
EchoStar representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for TPG had no immediate comment.
