DirecTV to acquire Dish Network for $1, assume debt

DirecTV has agreed to purchase Dish Network for $1 to create one of the biggest pay-TV companies in the country.

The purchase will still need the approval of federal regulators and will be done in two phases - TPG, a private equity firm that already owns 30% of DirecTV, will have a majority stake in DirectTV from AT&T, for $7.6 billion while DirecTV will buy Dish for $1 and will control Dish’s debt, The New York Times reported.

Dish has about $2 billion in debt due in November but only $500 million in cash. TPG will provide a loan to cover it.

Overall, Dish has about $9.9 billion in debt, The Los Angeles Times reported.

DirecTV will also take over Sling TV.

Dish’s parent company, EchoStar, will control other parts of the business including $30 billion in wireless investments and will operate as a stand-alone company.

Dish currently has about 8.1 million subscribers while DirecTV has 11 million subscribers. To put it in perspective, Comcast has about 13.2 million subscribers.

This isn’t the first time that Dish and DirecTV tried to merge. An $18.5 billion deal was not approved in 2002 by the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department which said that the deal would hurt competitors, The Associated Press reported. But the television world has changed in the past 20 years, with more streaming platforms coming online, consumers no longer have only two choices - cable or satellite, The Los Angeles Times reported.