Dish Network in talks with investors to settle lawsuit

Dish Network Corp., the ailing satellite television provider with more than $20 billion in debt, is in talks with a group of creditors to resolve a lawsuit related to a controversial asset transfer.

A meeting between the company and investors represented by Lazard Inc. and Milbank could happen as early as this week, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak about it.

The confidential talks also include the possible extension of a $2 billion bond issued by Dish DBS due Nov. 15, the people said. The notes last traded at 97.2 cents on the dollar on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Messages left with Milbank, Dish and its White & Case legal counsel were not returned. Representatives for Lazard and Houlihan Lokey Inc., the company’s financial adviser, declined to comment.

A group of creditors sued Dish in April, asking it to reverse a series of collateral transfers it made earlier this year to move assets out of the hands of bondholders. Dish, which is looking to shift from pay TV to wireless services, transferred a handful of wireless spectrum licenses to a new legal entity and freed a new unit that owns 3 million TV subscribers from debt covenants, as part of an effort to resolve their debt pile.

In recent months, holders of Dish’s convertible bonds have offered to provide new financing that would be backed by some of those assets. Discussions are ongoing.

(Reporting by Reshmi Basu)

Photo: Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

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