DISH reportedly holding merger talks with T-Mobile

Charlie Ergen

DISH Network is reportedly in merger talks with T-Mobile US about a multi-billion dollar deal that would combine the pay TV and telco companies. 

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the two firms are “in close agreement” about the structure of a combined company, but had not resolved issues surrounding the price of the deal or the mix of cash and stock that would fund it.

Should a deal go through, DISH CEO Charlie Ergen would becoming the merged company’s chairman and T-Mobile chief John Legere would be the company’s CEO, said the WSJ.

The agreement would mark the latest consolidation in the US pay TV market, with Charter Communications last month striking a deal to merge with Time Warner Cable and acquire US number six cable operator Bright House Networks in a deal that values Time Warner Cable at US$78.7 billion (€71.6 billion).

AT&T is also moving closer to completing its US$48.5 billion takeover of satellite pay TV operator, which was negotiated last year – a deal that promises to create the largest multichannel video programming distributor and potentially the largest internet service provider in the US.