DIRECTV Just sent the following to its retailers...
AT&T / DIRECTV ANNOUNCEMENT
To our valued partners –
You are among the first to know that DIRECTV has entered into a definitive agreement with AT&T to acquire our company. This transformational deal creates a world of possibilities for our customers, our company and your business.
Through your partnership, each and every day, we deliver the world’s best video entertainment experience, anytime, anywhere on practically any device. Joining forces with AT&T will combine our premier video service with the best-in-class nationwide mobile network and high-speed broadband in what will be 70 million homes. This powerful combination will enable us to bring exciting new products and services to consumers – which will in turn provide many growth opportunities.
For our customers, this transaction will deliver a new competitive alternative to the cable bundle – with a far better customer experience. It extends our premier video service to nearly 100 million AT&T wireless subscribers and enables us to bring new innovation to market including a wide array of video, mobile and broadband services. It will also expand high-speed broadband to 15 million homes in the U.S., primarily in rural areas, and facilitate the expansion of broadband throughout Latin America.
For our company and yours, it enhances our long-term competitiveness by giving us the ability to sell an integrated bundle of video, mobile and broadband. It also provides greater scale to address the rising cost of content and positions us well to meet the evolving video and broadband needs in the 21st century marketplace.
For you, it’s the opportunity to be part of a stronger, more competitive company. Together with AT&T, all of us will be able to execute our strategy on a larger scale and strengthened platform, while taking advantage of the unique capabilities of each company.
You can find more details by reading the joint press release available at investor.directv.com.
Next Steps
We expect the transaction to close within approximately 12 months, following regulatory and shareholder review. Until the transaction closes, DIRECTV and AT&T remain separate companies. Today’s announcement will have no immediate impact to our daily operations or partnership – it’s business as usual and we will continue to drive our strategy, which we shared at Dealer Revolution.
Please continue to engage with your usual points of contact with any questions. Our partnership with you is incredibly important to our success, and we are excited about the possibilities this will bring to all of our businesses.