AT&T Announces $48.5 Billion Bid for DirecTV

AT&T has announced plans to purchase satellite-TV provider DirecTV for $48.5 billion.

Following rumors that such a deal was in the works, AT&T announced Sunday, May 18, that it had reached a deal to acquire DirecTV for $95 per share, based on AT&T’s Friday closing price. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies.

At a time when smartphone sales growth is slowing and wireless carriers, AT&T in particular, are working to diversify their revenue opportunities, the deal would make AT&T one of nation’s largest pay-TV providers, adding DirecTV’s 20 million subscribers to its own 6 million. However, AT&T’s mobile network and high-speed broadband network, plus the broadband expansion enabled by the transaction, will ultimately cover 70 million customer locations, DirecTV said in a statement.