AT&T to purchase Time Warner for $85.4B US

AT&T Inc. said on Saturday it has agreed to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85.4 billion US.

The biggest deal in the world this year will, if approved by regulators, givethe telecom company control of cable TV channels HBO and CNN, film studio Warner Bros. and other coveted media assets.

It'sthe boldest move yet by a telecommunications company to acquire content to stream over its high-speed network to attract a growing number of online viewerswho want to ditch traditional pay-TV packages in favour of streamlined offerings or watching online.

AT&T said it expected to close the deal by the end of 2017.The companywill pay $110 per Time Warner share, half in cash and half in stock, worth about $85 billion overall, sources told Reuters.

It will need to line up financing to pay for the deal, since it only has $7.2 billion in cash on hand. This could put pressure on its credit rating as it already had $120 billion in net debt as of June 30, according to Moody's.

• Cord-nevers could be bigger threat to TV than cord-cutters

The boards of the two companies met on Saturday to approve the deal, sources told Reuters.

A deal would likely face intense scrutiny by U.S. antitrust regulators. The government may worry that other cable and internet companies would be denied access to Time Warner content like HBO and CNN, said Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer at the law firm Doyle, Barlow & Mazard.

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has complained about what he sees as unfair coverage of his campaign, said at a rally on Saturday he would block any AT&T-Time Warner deal if he wins the Nov. 8 election.

"It's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said.

• Trump lays out plans for 1st 100 days

Contentplus delivery

AT&T, whose main wireless phone and broadband service business is showing signs of slowing, has already made moves to turn itself into a media powerhouse. It bought satellite TV provider DirecTV last year for $48.5 billion.

In 2014, AT&T entered a joint venture, Otter Media, with the Chernin Group to invest in media businesses, and it has rolled out video streaming services.

Time Warner is a major force in movies, TV and video games. Its assets include the HBO, CNN, TBS and TNT networks as well as the Warner Bros film studio, producer of the "Batman" and "Harry Potter" film franchises. The company also owns a 10 per cent stake in video streaming site Hulu.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes rejected an $80 billion offer from Twenty-First Century Fox Inc in 2014, but sources said on Friday that the former suitor had no plans to renew its bid.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple Inc. approached Time Warner a few months ago about a possible merger.

• AT&T'sDirecTVacquisition could form 2nd largest U.S. pay TV company

Owning more content gives cable and telecom companiesbargaining leverage with other content companies as customers demand smaller, hand-picked cable offerings or switch to watching online.

A previous Time Warner blockbuster deal, its 2000 merger with AOL, is now considered one of the most ill-advised corporate marriages on record.