Dish DBS, a unit of EchoStar NASDAQ:ECHO, has filed for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy after reaching a creditor agreement that ended a prolonged legal dispute. The move could possibly clear the path for an M&A transaction as the satellite-TV business works through a restructuring tied to its broader debt and wireless transition.
The filing was made Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas, with Dish DBS listing assets between $1 billion and $10 billion and liabilities between $10 billion and $50 billion. The company said the plan is intended to facilitate early repayment of Dish DBS debt and support the completion of the Dish Wireless business transition following spectrum license sales announced in August and September last year.
The restructuring has backing from holders of more than 88% of Dish DBS's secured and unsecured notes, who also hold more than $8.8 billion of Dish Wireless debt. The deal follows years of tension with bondholders, including a January 2024 asset transfer involving wireless spectrum licenses, while earlier DirecTV merger talks were shelved in late 2024 after bondholders rejected a bond exchange offer that would have imposed losses.