AT&T officially agreed to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion, the company announced Sunday.
The transaction will allow AT&T to expand its broadband network to more than 70 million customer locations, according to a company press release.
The announcement comes a few months after Comcast announced it would acquire Time Warner Cable for $45 billion. As with the Comcast/TWC deal, both AT&T and DirecTV offer home security/home automation offerings.
AT&T’s Digital Life is a professionally monitored and installed service. The service, which launched in 2013, is currently operating in 75 markets nationwide, with CNET reporting that the firm has plans to add six more cities to its Digital Life roster on May 23.
Last year, DirecTV entered into the home security space with its purchase of LifeShield Home Security, a do-it-yourself security company. When SSI spoke with DirecTV’s Robert Mercer last year, he explained that the No. 1 U.S. satellite TV provider found the video home security business to be a good strategic fit because it was profitable and had low market penetration.
It is unclear how the deal will affect the Digital Life or LifeShield services.
AT&T is offering $95 per DirecTV share in a combination of stock and cash. The transaction has a total value of $67.1 billion, including the assumption of DirecTV’s net debt, Reuters reports.
The agreement has been approved unanimously by the boards of directors of both companies, but is subject to regulatory approval by the federal government.
