For DirecTV and Dish, It May Be Now or Never
A deal between the satellite-TV providers has always made sense, and the regulatory environment is as conducive as it may ever be.
Tuning in to merger chatter.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
If AT&T Inc. didn’t already have reason enough to consider parting ways with its shrinking DirecTV unit, there may be new inspiration for doing so: a cast of regulators potentially more amenable to Dish Network Corp. buying the rival satellite-TV business.
It was a year ago this week that the U.S. Justice Department lost its case in trying to block AT&T’s own $102 billion acquisition of Time Warner, a monumental courtroom decision that seemed to herald a new “anything goes” dealmaking environment. But the real test may now be the pending merger between T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp., because if allowed, antitrust regulators would be setting a precedent that it’s OK for two direct competitors in a highly concentrated market to join forces. That would be even more consequential for Corporate America’s M&A ambitions than the Time Warner ruling.