AT&T Acquires DirecTV in $67 Billion Deal

AT&T has reached an agreement to acquire DirecTV for $95 per share in a deal valued at $67 billion.

The proposed union of the telco giant and the USA’s largest satellite TV provider continues the torrid pace of consolidation in the pay TV marketplace. Traditional players are looking to diversify operations and bulk up against the subscriber erosion fueled by alternatives offered by  Netflix and other upstart digital services.

Deal will allow AT&T to vastly expand its footprint in the video biz, while AT&T’s pipeline into the home will help DirecTV overcome its disadvantage of not being able to provide high-speed Internet access to subscribers. DirecTV at present has 20.2 million subscribers in the U.S. and another 18 million in Latin America. AT&T has about 5.7 million subscribers to its U-Verse pay TV platform, which has been faced geographical limitations on the rollout of service.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY BY CLICKING ON THE LINK TO VARIETY.com

http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/att-to-acquire-directv-1201185350/