Deal brings big savings, bargaining power

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC. $35 (New York symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 5.2 billion; Market cap: $182.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 5.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) has completed its purchase of DirecTV, which has 20.4 million satellite TV customers in the U.S. and 19.5 million in Latin America. It also owns regional sports networks and other cable channels. AT&T paid $47.1 billion (69% stock and 31% cash). To win regulatory approval, the company agreed to expand its high-speed fibre-optic Internet service to more areas and upgrade Internet connections to schools and public libraries. By combining broadcasting and other facilities, AT&T should save $2.5 billion annually by the end of the third year. Adding DirecTV will also help the company negotiate better content deals with sports leagues and TV networks. AT&T is a buy. buy…