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Bankrupt Satellites for Dish Network: TerreStar Marks Ergen’s Latest Snatch
Charles Ergen’s Dish Network has bid $1.375 billion in cash and the assumption of risks involving license transfers for TerreStar Networks. Dish has been selected by the bankrupt satellite company to be the opening bidder in an upcoming auction.
The reason Dish is after TerraStar includes a number of things, though the main thing that stands out is that the latter owns government licenses to use wireless airwaves available for 4G networks. Dish agreed to shell out $1.4 billion for bankrupt DBSD North America in March for the same reason.
“The negotiations on the agreement were extended and have continued after Terrestar moved the bid deadline in its auction from June 8 to June 15, saying that it needed more time to negotiate a stalking horse offer,” reports Reuters. “Its auction is slated to be held on June 22, with a sale hearing scheduled for June 28.”
Wells Fargo & Co. analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote in a research note Wednesday that the deal would represent a “smart and strategic use of cash” by Ergen’s company.
Another company Ergen controls is EchoStar, which owns more than half of Terrestar’s senior bond. It also provided a $75 million loan that helped the company stay afloat after its bankruptcy, and according to court documents a $15 million increase will be provided should Dish win the auction. Some of the other bidders the company will consider reportedly include MetroPCS and a noteholder group that owns 15 percent of Terrastar’s senior secured notes.
In addition to TerreSta and DBSD North America, Ergen has announced yet another deal not too long ago – the acquisition of broadband services provider Hughes Communications for $1.33 billion.
When adding up these three telecom companies with Dish’s $228 million acquisition of Blockbuster, things begin to stack up pretty well. Dish did not buy out the company for its retail locations but rather its DVD kiosks and video streaming service. These, combined with Ergen’s IPS deals, make it look like Dish is prepping up for a major personal cloud initiative – an important direction for this type of media company to take.
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