DirecTV and Dish are merging

DirecTV has reached an agreement to acquire Dish, alongside its parent company EchoStar’s wider satellite TV business, for a single dollar — and assume $9.75 billion of Dish’s debt. Private equity firm TPG has arranged a two-step agreement to buy the remaining 70 percent of DirecTV that it didn’t already own from AT&T for a reported $7.6 billion and merge all of that with Dish.

The deal announced Monday would combine Dish’s roughly 8.1 million subscribers with the 11 million US subscribers under DirecTV, The New York Times reports. The agreement would see AT&T exit as a part-owner of DirecTV, while EchoStar separates from its TV business to pursue the wonders of Open RAN 5G once the deal is closed in 2025.

The DirecTV and Dish merger is subject to regulatory approval and serves as a lifeline for EchoStar, which has no means to pay the $2 billion of its $20 billion debt due by November 14th. DirecTV previously attempted to merge with Dish in 2002, but the deal was blocked by the US Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over competition concerns.