LONDON (Brand Republic) - The battle for control of US satellite TV provider DirecTV has taken another turn, as smaller rival EchoStar makes a bid to take over the General Motors-owned company.
The move will come as a blow to Rupert Murdoch, who has been struggling to put a deal together that would see his satellite division, BSkyB parent Sky Global Networks, merge with DirecTV in an attempt to enter the US market.
News Corporation鈥檚 negotiations with DirecTV are believed to have stalled because GM is reportedly unhappy about the amount of cash being offered as part of the deal.
The deal has also been threatened by a management takeover bid being launched by Hughes chairman Michael Smith. Hughes is the GM division that owns DirecTV.
EchoStar chairman Charles Ergen is also understood to have been in talks with Murdoch. However, it is understood that their relationship is already strained due to Murdoch鈥檚 decision to pull out of a takeover deal four years ago.
A merger between DirecTV and EchoStar seems unlikely as it would face a lengthy anti-trust investigation as competition authorities would object to one company controlling the fledgling US satellite market.
Analysts believe General Motors鈥檚 shareholders would be unlikely to want to risk the type of antitrust investigation that would be prompted by the deal.