NEW YORK — Blockbuster, once the largest video-rental chain, won final approval to sell its assets to Dish Network for $320 million in a deal completed Tuesday.
Dish’s bid was declared the highest and best offer after an auction April 6. On Thursday, the day the sale had been projected to close, Blockbuster told the bankruptcy judge overseeing its Chapter 11 case that it needed to give Dish more time to decide which of 1,500 leases to keep or reject.
The revised offer approved Tuesday gives Dish another 90 days to decide on leases and business contracts, which should allow the company to keep more leases and jobs, Blockbuster lawyer Stephen Karotkin said. Dish, based in Douglas County, is the second-largest U.S. satellite-television provider.
“I do find there is adequate consideration to support the amendment,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland said Tuesday while overruling all remaining objections to the deal.
A group of senior secured noteholders who financed Blockbuster’s operations in bankruptcy objected to the agreement, saying one revision waives a $3 million penalty for the delay in completing the sale. Lions Gate Films also objected, saying Dish and Blockbuster needed to honor a revenue-sharing agreement.
“We are pleased to have purchased the assets of Blockbuster and look forward to building on the nationally recognized Blockbuster brand while improving the experience of delivering entertainment to consumers,” said Tom Cullen, executive vice president for Dish.
