Telecommunications giant AT&T agreed on Saturday to purchase Time Warner, home of HBO, CNN and parent company of DC Comics for a staggering $85.4 billion. This deal will see the creation of a company capable of producing brilliant content and also of distributing it to people in their millions via wireless phones, broadband and satellite TV connections.
Both Time Warner and AT&T said that their boards unanimously agreed to the deal. Randall L. Stephenson, Chief Executive of AT&T told reporters via conference call in reference to Time Warner‘s Chief Executive Jeffrey Bewkes:
“When Jeff and I started talking, it became clear to us very quickly that we shared a very similar vision,”
He followed this up with:
“Time Warner, we believe, is the clear leader in premium content.”
With the deal set to go through in 2017, it finds itself likely to be faced with both criticism and disapproval from government regulators. Donald J. Trump suggested on Saturday that he would seek to block the merger should he be elected:
“because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.”
Bewkes of Time Warner faced scrutiny two years ago when refusing to sell to 21st Century Fox and their bid of $85 per share. Now, Bewkes has agreed to sell with AT&T offering a $107.50 per share in cash and stock. AT&T‘s offer is representative of what is a roughly 35% premium to where Time Warner‘s stock was before news of the merger was released.
What do you make of this huge news for DC? Will the merger serve the interests of die hard DC fans? Let us know in the comments or via social media, We’d love to hear your voice!
