Dish DBS获准向债权人征询重组方案，塔主债权回收前景仍受压

Dish Networkwon court approval to poll creditors on a restructuring deal that would trim billions of dollars in debt from its satellite-TV business and wind down its failed 5G buildout.

The bankrupt EchoStar Corp. unit advanced its Chapter 11 plan over objections from cellular tower owners, who argue the restructuring improperly uses inter-company bond debt to eliminate billions of dollars of potential damage claims stemming from Dish Wireless’s failed 5G business.

Judge Christopher Lopez said Thursday he would grant conditional approval of Dish’s disclosure statement, a key bankruptcy document intended to explain the restructuring to creditors. The approved disclosure statement will be sent with ballots and other solicitation materials so creditors can vote on the Chapter 11 plan.

Despite the ruling, Lopez required the company to add more details to help creditors decide how to vote and said a rapid schedule Dish sought to get the restructuring approved was too fast. The company initially proposed an August 17 hearing to consider approving the plan, but its lawyers offered to push the date back to mid-September.

Lopez said Thursday he’d hold a hearing to decide whether to approve the reorganization in early October. The judge didn’t weigh in on the merits of the plan, which will be considered at future hearings.

Tower owners, including Crown Castle Inc. and American Tower Corp., argued creditors still lack enough information about expected recoveries to cast informed votes. Smaller landlords who leased property for Dish 5G equipment are also objecting to the plan.

More than 1,000 people who leased space on their property for Dish cellular equipment are being disadvantaged by the proposed reorganization, Ivan Gold, who represents about 40 landlords, told the court.

Those small creditors are “the roadkill of the wind-down of Dish Wireless,” Gold told Lopez. Dish has defended its plan and said the restructuring has “widespread creditor support.”

The proposal is backed by investment firms that own most of Dish DBS’ bond debt, a group that includes BlackRock Advisors LLC, GoldenTree Asset Management LP, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. and Pacific Investment Management Company, according to a Wednesday disclosure.

Thursday’s hearing included testimony from EchoStar Chief Operating Officer John Swieringa, who has also served as president of the 5G subsidiary. Creditor lawyers questioned Swieringa about his dual positions and whether Dish Wireless would investigate potential causes of action against EchoStar.

Swieringa said a special committee of which he isn’t a member of is investigating Dish’s potential causes of action against third parties.

The restructuring is being challenged by a committee representing Dish’s unsecured creditors that includes Crown Castle, American Tower, Fox Corp. The committee said Dish advisers are leveraging inter-company debt to disenfranchise tower owners and other creditors owed money from Dish Wireless.

Creditors also claimed the disclosure statement lacked critical information about how they’d be repaid and when. Crown Castle has said it’s owed more than $3.5 billion in damages but would only recover between 1 and 2 cents on the dollar under the current plan.

Dish disputes tower owners’ allegations and claims the Federal Communications Commission took unprecedented action which forced the company to sell spectrum licenses to AT&T Inc. and SpaceX.

The case is Dish DBS Corporation, 26-90627, in the Southern District of Texas.