Sky Brasil and DIRECTV Brasil Finalize Merger

Merger Is the Final in a Series of Transactions Designed to Combine the Two Direct-to-Home Platforms in Latin America into a Single Platform in Each of the Major Territories Served in the Region

The DIRECTV Group, Inc., announced today that the merger of Sky Brasil and DIRECTV Brasil is now complete. As part of the transaction, DIRECTV Brasil and Sky Brasil have been combined and the DIRECTV Group has acquired the interests of News Corporation and Liberty Media in Sky Brasil.

Following the transaction, the DIRECTV Group now owns approximately 74 percent of Sky Brasil and Globo Comunicacao e Participacoes S.A. (Globo) owns approximately 26 percent. The DIRECTV Group will control day-to-day management of Sky Brasil and Globo will remain with minority governance rights, consistent with its position as a strategic partner, and will continue in its role as the lead supplier of Brazilian programming to the platform.

Together, DIRECTV Brasil and Sky Brasil have approximately 1.3 million subscribers, making up one third of all pay television subscribers in Brazil. Following the merger, DIRECTV Brasil customers will migrate to the Sky Brasil platform.

This merger completes a series of separate transactions originally agreed upon in October 2004 with News Corporation, Globo, Grupo Televisa, S.A. (Televisa), and Liberty Media International, to combine the two DTH platforms of DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Latin America into a single platform in each of the major territories served in the region. As a result, the DIRECTV Group and its affiliate Sky Mexico (in which the DIRECTV Group has a 41 percent interest) now serve approximately 4 million subscribers in Latin America.

"We're pleased to have finalized this last transaction of combining Sky Brasil and DIRECTV Brasil," said Bruce Churchill, president of DIRECTV Latin America. "Now we can fully focus our efforts on moving forward, growing the business and providing the 4 million DIRECTV and Sky subscribers in the region with the best television experience possible."

“To make the switch to DIRECTV, Call Expert Satellite, DIRECTV’s Preferred On-Line Retailer, at 800-431-1221.”
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SOURCE: DIRECTV