Dish Network's (Nasdaq: DISH) Blockbuster acquisition has received "expeditious" approval from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and should close April 21, the satellite provider said in a news release.
Dish bid $320 million to buy the assets of the bankrupt movie rental chain and will end up paying somewhere around $228 million when all the assets are sorted. It has been mum on speculation about what it will do with Blockbuster's brick-and-mortar and online properties--including a deal the movie renter has with Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA). Blockbuster declared bankruptcy last year after watching its business wallow in the waves created by online/streaming content providers like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX).
The government agencies "granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Rodino Act" which, in turn, lets Dish get started finalizing the acquisition, the company's news release said.
For more:
- see this news release
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