AT&T has finally agreed on a purchase price for Time Warner. The telecom corporation will buy the media conglomerate for $85.4 billion.
To help pay for the acquisition, JPMorgan Chase & Co. will contribute $25 billion with Bank of America Corp. providing $15 billion for a bridge loan “to finance part of the cash portion of the deal.”
AT&T has been looking for a strategic partner to help attract and keep consumers. With media outlets such as Netflix offering original online programming at cheaper prices, AT&T needed a partner to help bridge the gap. Time Warner, which owns CNN, HBO and has a 10% stake in Hulu, LLc was a natural choice.
The biggest issue will be the FCC who recently rejected a telecom merger between AT&T and competitor T-Mobile.
In 2015, AT&T posted a revenue of $146.8 billion employing 281,000 workers. Time Warner, with almost 25,000 employees, reported revenue of $28.1 billion.
