UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 3
INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES
Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
(Type or Print Responses)
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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person*
Groupe Canal+
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(Last) (First) (Middle)
85-89, Quai Andre Citroen
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(Street)
75711 Paris Cedex 15 France
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(City) (State) (Zip)
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2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
January 22, 2002
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3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary)
Not Applicable (foreign entity)
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4. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
EchoStar Communications Corporation (DISH)
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5. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
[ ] Director [X] 10% Owner
[ ] Officer (give title below) [ ] Other (specify below)
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6. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)
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7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)
[X] Form filed by One Reporting Person
[ ] Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
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Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
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3. Ownership Form:
2. Amount of Securities Direct (D) or
1. Title of Security Beneficially Owned Indirect (I) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4) (Instr. 4) (Instr. 5) (Instr. 5)
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Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
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FORM 3 (continued)
Table II -- Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
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5. Owner-
3. Title and Amount of Securities ship
Underlying Derivative Security Form of
2. Date Exercisable (Instr. 4) Derivative
and Expiration Date --------------------------------- 4. Conver- Security:
(Month/Day/Year) Amount sion or Direct 6. Nature of
---------------------- or Exercise (D) or Indirect
Date Expira- Number Price of Indirect Beneficial
1. Title of Derivative Exer- tion of Derivative (I) Ownership
Security (Instr. 4) cisable Date Title Shares Security (Instr. 5) (Instr. 5)
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Series D Mandatorily See Note (1) See Note (2) Class A Common Stock, 57,604,790 See Note (3) I See Note(4)
Convertible par value $0.01 per
Participating Preferred share
Stock, par value
$0.01 per share
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Explanation of Responses:
(1) The 5,760,479 shares of Series D mandatorily convertible participating
preferred stock, par value $.01 per share (the "Preferred Stock"), of
EchoStar Communications Corporation, a Nevada corporation (the "Company")
may only be held beneficially or of record by Vivendi Universal, S.A., a
societe anonyme organized under the laws of France ("Vivendi Universal"),
or any direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Vivendi Universal
(collectively "the Holders", each individually a "Holder"). Each share of
Preferred Stock is convertible into 10 shares of Class A common stock, par
value $.01 per share (the "Common Stock") of the Company upon the election
of the Holder that is the owner of record upon the date of such election.
(2) In the event that none of the Holders elect to convert shares of
Preferred Stock in the manner described in Note (1), each share of
Preferred Stock will mandatorily convert into 10 shares of Common Stock
upon the earliest to occur of: (i) the effective time of the merger
contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 28,
2001, by and between the Company and Hughes Electronics Corporation, a
Delaware corporation, (ii) Vivendi Universal or its subsidiaries cease to
own Preferred Stock or Common Stock representing, on a fully converted
basis, 51% or more of the total shares of Common Stock underlying the
Preferred Stock issued on January 22, 2002 to Financiere De
Videocommunication, a societe anonyme organized under the laws of France
("Financiere") and wholly owned subsidiary of Groupe Canal+, a societe
anonyme organized under the laws of France and wholly owned subsidiary of
Vivendi Universal, (iii) the purported sale, assignment, transfer or
other disposition of such share of Preferred Stock or beneficial
ownership thereof to any person other than a Holder, or (iv) January 22,
2007.
(3) The purchase price of the Preferred Stock was $1,499,999,929.21 in cash.
On the terms described in Notes (1) and (2), each share of Preferred
Stock is convertible into 10 shares of Common Stock.
(4) On January 22, 2002 the Preferred Stock was purchased by Financiere in
exchange for the consideration described in Note (3).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal
Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If
space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information
contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a
currently valid OMB Number.
GROUPE CANAL+
by /s/ Pierre Lescure January 22, 2002
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Name: Pierre Lescure Date
Title: Chairman and Chief Operating Officer
**Signature of Reporting Person
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