DirecTV agrees to buy satellite rival Dish (and its debt) for one dollar

Enlarge / Dish and DirecTV satellite dishes on the roof of an apartment building on April 15, 2013 in San Rafael, California. (credit: Getty Images | Justin Sullivan)

DirecTV today announced an agreement to buy the Dish satellite TV and Sling TV streaming business from EchoStar for a nominal fee of $1 in what the companies called a debt exchange transaction. DirecTV will take on $9.75 billion of Dish debt if the deal is completed.

In a related transaction also announced today, private equity firm TPG plans to buy AT&T’s 70 percent stake in DirecTV. TPG already owns the other 30 percent of DirecTV.

The pending DirecTV/Dish deal would combine the two major satellite TV companies in the US, removing a choice for satellite users. But DirecTV claims it “will benefit US video consumers by creating a more robust competitive force in a video industry dominated by streaming services owned by large tech companies and programmers.” The agreement, which follows years of on-again, off-again merger discussions between the companies, needs regulatory approval and is tentatively planned to close in Q4 2025.