Following the news that Sprint isconsidering buying T-Mobilecomes word of another major acquisition. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T has approached DirecTV to begin possible buyout talks. The deal, the outlet says, could be worth over $40 billion in cash, stock and other assets.
Here’s the scoop from the Journal:
AT&T has approached DirecTV about a possible acquisition of the satellite-TV firm, say people familiar with the situation, the latest sign of a possible shake-up in the television industry. A combination of AT&T with satellite-TV firm DirecTV would create a pay television giant close in size to where Comcast Corp. will be if it completes its pending acquisition of Time Warner Cable. TWC +0.09%
It’s quite possible that DirecTV is looking to make a deal. The Journal says that the company recently approached its competitor Dish Network over a possible merger, but a tie-up with AT&T might make more sense. The two sides are already partners in markets for TV, phone and Internet packages.
Of course, even if the acquisition is made official, it’ll have to get the approval of federal regulators. We don’t have much of an idea right now of how they feel about Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, but we can’t imagine they’d be in a hurry to approve to major cable operator deals.
AT&T’s particular track record garnering regulatory approval isn’t very good. In 2011 the carrier’s T-Mobile buyout deal wasblocked by the FCC, forcing it to pay $4 billion in breakup fees.
So what do you make of this possible AT&T-DirecTV deal?
