AT&T, the leading internet provider, is in advanced discussions to acquire media conglomerate Time Warner. According to numerous sources, this deal would create a new entity in the growing converging elements of media, communications and the internet.
Reporting for the WSJ on AT&T’s advanced talks to acquire Time Warner:
“A deal, which could happen as early as this weekend, would unite AT&T’s portfolio of wireless, broadband and satellite TV services with Time Warner’s entertainment empire, which includes cable networks such as TNT, TBS, CNN, the coveted premium channel HBO, and the Warner Bros. film and TV studio.”
Time Warner is in the position of looking for a buyer at this point, with chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Bewkes being a willing seller if a fair offer comes along.
“There’s a lot that’s attractive about Time Warner,” media industry veteran Peter Chernin, who runs an online video joint venture with AT&T, said in an interview Thursday on CNBC. “I think they’re both great companies.” He said he didn’t know anything about a deal.
NYU Stern School of Business Professor Scott Galloway discusses reports of takeover talks between AT&T and Time Warner executives. He speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance” and said a AT&T-Time Warner “Would Be a Juggernaut.”
Last year, AT&T paid $48.5 billion to acquire satellite-TV provider DirecTV, its biggest deal in at least 10 years.
