EchoStar to Acquire Hughes Communications
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, February 14, 2011 · 
EchoStar has agreed to acquire Hughes Communications for $1.32 billion, or approximately $2 billion including the assumption of debt.
Under the terms of the transaction, which have been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Hughes’s shareholders will receive $60.70 per share in cash. This is just shy of the stock’s Friday closing price of $61.78.
EchoStar, which makes television set-top boxes and satellites, was spun off from Dish Network Corp. three years ago. EchoStar also owns SlingMedia, maker of the Slingbox set-top box, which allows pay-TV subscribers to remotely access video content from their homes via the Internet.
Headquartered in Germantown, Md., Hughes provides broadband satellite services through its HughesNet unit. More than half a million North Americans consumers now subscribe to HughesNet for high-speed Internet, video conferencing and VoIP telephony. The company also provides managed network services for a number of large enterprises, including Wal-Mart, General Motors and Best Buy, as well as government agencies.
Hughes Communications is owned by private equity firm Apollo Management, and was first rumored to be on the block last month. It remains to be seeen how the sale might affect affect Hughes’ $58.7M ARRA stimulus award.
“With a rich engineering culture, an extensive fleet of owned and leased satellites, and experienced personnel in communications centers around the world, the combination of EchoStar and Hughes will create a powerful leader in video and data transport,” said Michael Dugan, chief executive of EchoStar.
The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to certain closing conditions including receipt of federal regulatory approvals.
For more, see this release.
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