Posted on 09/27/2007 2:31:36 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (September 27, 2007) -- AT&T has offered to buy EchoStar, the nation's second largest satellite TV service.
That's according to an article today from TheStreet.com.
The web site reports that AT&T has offered $55 a share, while the satcaster may be holding out for $65 a share.
The deal would seem to make sense for both companies.
EchoStar is under pressure to increase spending on several initiatives, including High-Definition TV, to keep pace with rival DIRECTV and the cable operators. AT&T could supply the financing, for instance, for EchoStar to launch new satellite to expand high-def capacity.
Meanwhile, AT&T's TV service, u-Verse, has just broken the 100,000 subscriber mark after more than two years. Buying EchoStar would give the telco more than 13 million video subscribers overnight.
TheStreet.com says Oppenheimer analyst Tom Eagan has raised his rating on EchoStar in anticipation of a AT&T deal. He believes AT&T would likely pay about $56 a share for the satcaster.
Both companies declined to comment on Thursday, TheStreet.com reports.
“DSL is not really high speed.”
When you’re stuck with 56K dialup, anything is better.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.