Ed Hammond, Manuel Baigorri and Gerry Smith London
TIME Warner was in talks about a potential sale to either Altice or Charter Communications, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Talks with both companies were expected to continue through the weekend, and an agreement with either suitor could be reached as soon as next week, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
The discussions might yet fall apart and there was no certainty a deal would be reached, the people said.
Time Warner, which has a market value of about $48 billion (R570bn), might fetch more than $54bn in a sale. It would be a large acquisition for Altice, which has a market value of closer to $36bn and also just struck a deal to buy a controlling stake in Suddenlink.
A purchase by Altice would also face scrutiny from the Commitee on Foreign Investment in the US, one of the people said. Still, banks were willing to finance large acquisitions and Altice should not have trouble raising the funds for a Time Warner bid, two of the people said.
A spokesman for Time Warner declined to comment, as did spokesmen for Charter and Altice. Reuters reported earlier that Altice had discussed financing for a Time Warner Cable bid with banks.
Cable providers are trying to get bigger as their traditional business of selling TV service comes under pressure from online rivals. Altice chairman Patrick Drahi is seeking to expand his telecommunications empire to a US cable market that is being quickly reshaped by a series of mergers.
Last month, Comcast, dropped its plan to buy Time Warner, in the face of regulatory hurdles.
US Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler called the heads of Time Warner and Charter to dispel notions that mergers would not be approved by regulators, a person with knowledge of the calls said. – Bloomberg