A U.S. bankruptcy court judge has approved a $1.375 billion offer from Dish Network for TerreStar Networks' assets, making the bid the "stalking horse" bid for the assets.
Bidders have until June 27 to make competing bids. If multiple parties make offers, an auction would be held on June 30, the results of which would go before the court for approval July 7.
Any winning bid would have to top Dish's bid by $55.5 million, under procedures set by the bankruptcy court. A $27.5 million breakup fee would be paid to Dish if it loses the auction.
This is the second time Dish has chased TerreStar. The first attempt was mutually canceled in February. UBS analyst John Hodulik sees the possibility that Dish would partner with Sprint (NYSE:S) as it updates its 4G strategy with majority-owned Clearwire
"With Sprint's new Network Vision infrastructure, it is the likely partner were Charlie (Ergen) to build out a terrestrial network," he said.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this Denver Post article
Related articles:
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Dish Network lands $1.38B bid for TerreStar, reportedly outflanking MetroPCS
TerreStar files for bankruptcy