Malone: DBS Merger Would Face Hurdles
There has been a lot of recent talk about a potential merger between DISH Network and DIRECTV, especially given the successful combination of satellite radio companies XM and Sirius.
Nonetheless, those on the DIRECTV side of the satellite TV business have kept downplaying such a deal. Last week, DIRECTV CEO Chase Carey dismissed the DBS merger talk.
On Monday, executives at Liberty Media, which holds a nearly 50 percent stake in the satellite TV platform, also discounted any speculation about a merger. That included Liberty Media Chairman John Malone, who said he couldn't "understand why the journalists all of a sudden discovered the potential of a merger" between the small dish rivals.
During a conference call with analysts, Malone said a DBS merger would be "very synergistic if it were doable." However, winning over regulators in Washington would be a high hurdle for the companies, he said.
"We don't see that the regulatory environment has changed since the last time we made comments on the subject," Malone said. "We think it would be problematic to try and merge the two companies in the current regulatory environment."
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei also said he couldn't comprehend the recent attention given to a DBS merger. "I'm not sure exactly why that got such a round of enthusiastic media/investor attention over the last two, three weeks," he said.
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