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Dish, the second-largest U.S. satellite TV company after DirecTV, trumped at least three other bidders,Buy nike running shoes  including activist investor Carl Icahn, for the one-time leader in video rentals.

Dish said the deal, which includes more than 1,700 Blockbuster stores, gives it new ways to market its services.

The deal covers "substantially all" of the rental chain's business, and likely gives Dish the rights Blockbuster had to stream movies over the Internet, the Blockbuster brand name and customer lists.

Blockbuster said in a statement that it believes the sale "represents the best means of maximizing value for the company's stakeholders."

Dish declined to comment beyond its news release. A court hearing to approve the sale is scheduled for Thursday.

"This is very clever," said Todd Mitchell, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers. "Dish can transition Blockbuster from a retail to a streaming model so you have basically a Netflix-like offering."

Shares of Dish ended one cent higher, while Netflix Inc's stock slid nearly 2 percent.cheap nike mens acg sandals

The deal follows two others this year led by Dish Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Ergen that could transform the company into a major provider of on-demand video through its satellite system and eventually over a wireless network for handheld devices, according to analysts.

Dish is expanding its broadband spectrum by acquiring DBSD North America for about $1.4 billion.

Digital set-top box maker EchoStar Corp, where Ergen is also chairman, has announced it is buying Hughes Communications, which Mitchell said could one day provide technology to create a wireless network.

Together, the deals could give Dish the tools it needs to deliver movies to phones and iPads and compete with Netflix, which streams most of its videos over the Internet.

"Young people are downloading increasing amounts of content direct to handheld devices. The iPhone is at the forefront of a new generation of devices that are revolutionary because you don't have to plug them into the computer to receive content," said David Pauker, a turnaround specialist with Goldin Associates.

Dish expects to pay about $228 million in cash to acquire Blockbuster's assets, which as of February 27 included more than $100 million of receivables and cash and a rental library estimated to be worth $175 million.

The money will go toward paying off the company's creditors, which include Icahn and other bondholders as well as movie studios. The creditors are owed more than a $1 billion. Reebok ZigTech