Dish Network

Dish Network

Colorado's Dish Network Corp. plans to take on the leases for at least 500Blockbuster Inc. stores after it buys the troubled video chain, according to bankruptcy-court filings.
That means that roughly 1,000 remaining Blockbuster locations likely will close their doors after the acquisition by the satellite TV company, on top of the thousands of other stores shuttered in recent years.
Blockbuster will have 1,700 locations open nationwide once a current round of closings is complete. The Dallas-based company has closed a number of stores in the Pittsburgh area, leaving landlords to find new tenants in a tough retail environment.
The number of stores to be left open could go up or down, according to filings with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
Dish (Nasdaq: DISH) hopes to close its purchase of Blockbuster by May 5 or perhaps as early as late April.
The company earlier this month won a three-way bidding war in the bankruptcy auction for Blockbuster's assets.
Dish's winning bid was valued at about $320 million, including $228 million in cash.
Bankruptcy judge Burton Lifland approved the sale to Dish on April 7.

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