DirecTV to Buy Pegasus Assets
DirecTV Group Inc. plans to buy the satellite television assets of Pegasus Communications Corp. and settle a legal squabble for $938 million, the companies said Monday.
The companies have bickered in and out of court for the last five years over the length of Pegasus’ resellers contract. The deal brings a resolution to years of feuding. It also lets News Corp.-controlled DirecTV quickly apply triage to Pegasus’ under-performing rural markets.
Pegasus was a reseller of DirecTV services and has about 1 million subscribers.
The agreement comes two months after Pegasus Satellite Television, a unit of Pegasus Communications, sued DirecTV and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, alleging that the two entities had sought “to destroy” Pegasus.
Pegasus Satellite filed for bankruptcy protection June 2 after DirecTV and the cooperative agreed to dissolve an agreement giving it the exclusive right to distribute DirecTV service to 8 million homes in 42 states.
The transaction with El Segundo-based DirecTV is expected to be completed within the next four to six weeks.
Shares of Pegasus shares gained 27 cents to $20.38 on Nasdaq, while DirecTV shares rose 46 cents to $16.67 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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