Shareholders of satellite TV service provider DirecTV have voted in favor of accepting a very lucrative acquisition offer by communications company AT&T, the companies announced today. AT&T announced its plans to take over the satellite TV company back in May, with the deal being worth $48.5 billion. The move would give AT&T a nationwide TV service that could theoretically compete with the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and others while also giving the telecom another service to bundle with its wireless data, broadband Internet, and phone services.
As expected, shareholders of DirecTV voted in favor of AT&T’s acquisition of the satcaster, in a deal worth about $48.5 billion. The proposed deal is still pending regulatory reviews and approvals by the Department of Justice and the FCC; the companies anticipate the merger to close in the first half of 2015. At a special meeting of DirecTV shareholders Thursday, more than 99% of votes cast were in favor of the adoption of the merger agreement, representing 77% of all outstanding shares, according to the satcaster. Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of the telco’s mobility division, speaking at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia conference earlier this month, called out new opportunities for AT&T and DirecTVto create new service bundles, including a combo fixed-wireless broadband service with satellite TV.
