Echostar completed its acquisition of its sister company DISH Network, a US satellite TV provider, on the cusp of the new year.
The deal, first announced in August 2023, has brought together DISH Network’s satellite technology and 5G network with EchoStar’s satellite communications solutions – with the former as a wholly owned subsidiary of the latter.
The acquisition, completed on 31 December 2023, also represents the reunification of Charlie Ergen’s business ventures. The billionaire co-founded both DISH and Echostar and when DISH was founded in 1995, it was already part of the EchoStar Corporation, also owned by Ergen. In 2008 the company was spun off from its parent to become an independent satellite services provider, leaving EchoStar with most of the satellite management and equipment production responsibilities.
Although the companies have been shuffled about, Ergen has ceded little control of either since he set them up. Prior to the acquisition, he held 90% of the voting power of DISH. He still owns nearly 60% of Echostar.
DISH was already part of the EchoStar Corporation, also owned by Ergen, when it was founded in 1995.
