What a crappy article! The Dish/DirecTV merger/buy-out a few years ago was universally decried by government and press as monopolistic and unworkable. Why would a NewsCorp acquisition of Dish be any different now?
AT&T/Echostar
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RandallA said:
this article seems to imply that Ergen either merges with someone or goes out of business. is that possible? isnt the word "wither" usually followed by the words "and die"?
"CONTROL ISSUES. Ergen, who owns the majority of voting shares, balked at a merger with Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS), which operates DirecTV (see BW, 11/01/04, "Can Charlie Ergen Still Go It Alone?"). His controlling stake is another impediment to a deal.
There's no obvious exit strategy for Ergen. Other buyers are unlikely to appear. One option is simply to wither, Kalla says. The other: go back to Murdoch and revisit the possibility of a merger between the two satellite giants. But Ergen is unlikely to reap as much money as he wants. And there's no way Murdoch would let Ergen keep control.
Since he has coveted his independence for so long, it may be too late for Ergen to change his mind."
It seems a little hysterical for this article to be talking about "exit strategies" for a company that has shown decent profits in the last 3 years or so (through Q305 it looks like a good year for them).
While it is true an independent company doesn't have as deep pockets, I really don't see any sound reason for the article to be written in the manner it was. It makes the situation for Dish look dire, and the financial results simply don't indicate that is the case.
While it is true an independent company doesn't have as deep pockets, I really don't see any sound reason for the article to be written in the manner it was. It makes the situation for Dish look dire, and the financial results simply don't indicate that is the case.
Wrong. Charlie The Chairman ALSO owns the majority of votes. NO ONE ELSE'S vote matters!richmert said:
SimpleSimon said:
thank you SS. i did ask that question earlier and have since seen in todays article that Charlie is still the majority stock holder. so whatever happens is purely an Ergen decision. But I can see where there may come a time for someone to want to cash out. maybe that time isnt now but i can see it happening.
gee whiz simon i just realized that i asked if charlie was still the majority shareholder in the same post you quoted. why didnt you include that part in your response? why did you take my quote out of context and emphatically claim i was wrong when i did politely ask the question before i noted there would be a shareholder vote?SimpleSimon said:
