Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen said on Monday he had bought LightSquared's secured debt because it was a "great investment," and said he did so on his own behalf and not for Dish. The question of why Ergen bought LightSquared's debt is central to a trial in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan in which Ergen is accused of doing so to help Dish in a plan to acquire LightSquared.LightSquared and its owner, Harbinger Capital Partners, have said that Ergen created an investment vehicle to purchase LightSquared debt without revealing the identity of the buyer. The move was done to get around a credit agreement that barred debt purchases by LightSquared competitors, like Dish, LightSquared and Harbinger alleged in a lawsuit.Testifying in court on Monday, Ergen acknowledged that, from mid-2012 through last year, he accrued enough LightSquared debt to influence the company's restructuring. But he insisted it was not done improperly, or as part of Dish's plan to acquire LightSquared."I loved the investment," said Ergen, who said he spent about $700 million of his own money to acquire about $850 million worth of debt. "I believed the value of that investment had gone up."
DISH Network Corporation is a pay-television (TV) provider, with approximately 13. Shares of DISH fell by 2.2% or $-1.26/share to $55.95. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $33.79 and as high as $58.55. On average, 2442870 shares of DISH exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2446096.
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