AT&T Inc and Time Warner Inc have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which the former will acquire the media and entertainment conglomerate in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at USD107.50 per share. The total value of the transaction is likely to be in the region of USD85 billion, while the agreement has already been approved unanimously by the boards of directors of both companies. The deal will combine Time Warner’s vast library of content – it owns HBO, Warner Bros and Turner – with AT&T’s extensive customer relationships, world’s largest pay-TV subscriber base and leading scale in TV, mobile and broadband distribution.
Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO, commented: ‘This is a perfect match of two companies with complementary strengths who can bring a fresh approach to how the media and communications industry works for customers, content creators, distributors and advertisers. Premium content always wins. It has been true on the big screen, the TV screen and now it’s proving true on the mobile screen. We’ll have the world’s best premium content with the networks to deliver it to every screen. A big customer pain point is paying for content once but not being able to access it on any device, anywhere. Our goal is to solve that.’