AT&T’s Spectrum Needs May Push Up Dish Price
Scott Moritz
AT&T Inc. (T) is under so much pressure to add wireless spectrum after its failed $39 billion bid for T- Mobile USA that it may be compelled to pay the highest premium in more than a decade to secure Dish Network Corp. (DISH)
Facing opposition from U.S. regulators, Dallas-based AT&T last month abandoned its deal for T-Mobile USA that would have increased the largest U.S. telephone company’s 4G spectrum capacity 62 percent, helping its higher-speed LTE network compete with Verizon Wireless. Now, AT&T may consider a bid for Dish after the second-largest U.S. satellite-television provider acquired airwaves from the bankruptcies of DBSD North America Inc. and TerreStar Networks Inc. that could give AT&T two to four more years of capacity, said Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
With the industry facing network constraints and a scarcity of new spectrum that’s making Dish a target, President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Clayton says the company is open to future acquisitions. At $50 a share, cited as a reasonable price by Alpine Mutual Funds, AT&T would have to pay a 77 percent premium for Dish, the highest in an acquisition greater than $5 billion by a telecommunications company since 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-17/at-t-s-need-for-spectrum-signals-dish-bid-at-decade-high-premium-real-m-a.html