“Dish Network Corp won Blockbuster Inc in a bankruptcy auction for about $320 million, a move that could see the second-largest U.S. satellite TV provider tapping the movie rental chain’s online content to strengthen its offerings,” Sakthi Prasad and Supantha Mukherjee report for Reuters.
“Dish, led by satellite billionaire Charlie Ergen, trumped at least three other bidders, including activist investor Carl Icahn, for the one-time leader in video rentals,” Prasad and Mukherjee report. “Dish might find Blockbuster’s online content appealing as the company could use it as a base for an online product to deliver movies.”
“Blockbuster had a market cap of more than $5 billion at its peak in 2002, but came under pressure from mail-order and digital competitors such as Netflix Inc. The company filed for bankruptcy in September and put itself up for sale in February after a reorganization plan fell apart,” Prasad and Mukherjee report. “The winning bid must still be approved at a hearing in federal bankruptcy court on Thursday.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Blockbuster bid.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn W.” for the heads up.]