AT&T buy Time Warner and create new media giant: Details.

AT&T buy Time Warner and create new media giant: Details.

AT&T Agrees to Buy Time Warner for $85.4 Billion

Source: Bangkok Post

The acquisition would combine a telecom giant that owns a leading cellphone business, DirecTV and an internet service with the company behind HBO, CNN, and

some of the world's most popular entertainment, including "Game of Thrones," the "Harry Potter" franchise and professional basketball. It's the latest big media acquisition by a major cable or phone company — such as Comcast's 2011 purchase of NBC Universal — and aimed at shoring up businesses upended by the internet.

The wireless carrier agreed to pay $107.50 a share, evenly split between cash and stock. The companies said they expect the deal to close by the end of 2017.

AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson would head the new company. The companies said Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes would stay for an interim period following the close of the deal to help with the transition.

“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,” Mr. Stephenson, 56 years old, said in a release.

Shares of AT&T, as is typical of acquirers in large deals, fell on reports of a deal in the works on Friday, ending the day down 3 percent. But the prospect of more media acquisitions sent several stocks soaring Friday. Netflix and Discovery Communications each jumped more than 3 percent.

Time Warner rose nearly 8 percent on Friday, and is now up 38 percent since the start of the year.

Company Details:

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate, headquartered at Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas.

Time Warner Inc. is an American multinational media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City.