AT&T-Time Warner Talks Could Set Off Deal Frenzy
October 21 2016 - 4:58PM
Dow Jones News
By Shalini Ramachandran, Keach Hagey and Dana Mattioli
Apple Inc. a few months ago approached Time Warner Inc. about
pursuing a combination, but the discussions didn't progress beyond
a preliminary stage and none are currently under way, people
familiar with the matter said Friday.
AT&T is now in advanced talks to purchase Time Warner, The
Wall Street Journal has reported, and a deal could come together
within days. From Apple's end, executives under Chief Executive Tim
Cook were involved in the earlier talks, and now Apple is
monitoring the current situation, one of the people said.
The talks for Time Warner suggest there is a greater merger
dance occurring in the media industry as conglomerates, telecom
companies and tech giants try to stake their claim on the future. A
host of other contenders could jump into the fray for Time Warner
and scuttle the planned deal, media executives and analysts
say.
Time Warner is viewed as perhaps the most attractive stand-alone
media asset, given its premium content brands -- which include HBO,
CNN and Warner Bros.--and the fact it doesn't have a controlling
shareholder. The company had $28 billion in revenue last year and
had a market capitalization of $68 billion before the Journal
reported on the deal. Time Warner shares were up 7% in afternoon
trading.
"There has been along list of companies speculated to be
interested in acquiring (Time Warner), starting with the almighty
Apple. So if ATT wants this deal, it is in their best interest to
move as fast as possible," wrote Todd Juenger of Bernstein Research
in a research note.
At the same time, a Time Warner transaction could help trigger
more media deal-making as industry bosses try to drum up strategies
to position them for a world where streaming media is on the rise
and pay TV cord-cutting is taking a financial toll
Write to Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com,
Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com and Dana Mattioli at
dana.mattioli@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2016 16:43 ET (20:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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