AT&T to acquire Time Warner

Agreement has been reached on $85.4bn deal that will see AT&T acquire channels like HBO and CNN

A deal that will see AT&T acquire Time Warner is expected to be conlcuded by the end of 2017
A deal that will see AT&T acquire Time Warner is expected to be conlcuded by the end of 2017

Telecommunications giant AT&T Inc has said that it has agreed to buy Time Warner for $85.4bn. It has been reported that AT&T will pay $107.50 for each share, and the deal expected to be closed by the end of 2017.

If approved by regulators, the deal will be the biggest in the world this year and would give AT&T control of a number of media assets including Cartoon Network, HBO and Warner Bros.

Buying Time Warner would give AT&T, which has a market value of $226bn, access to the Batman film franchises as well as TV programs such as The Big Bang Theory and Game of Thrones.

U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump said at a rally on Saturday he would block any AT&T-Time Warner deal if he were to be elected. Trump has complained about media coverage of his campaign, especially by Time Warner's CNN and has said that the deal would represent too much concentration of power in the hands of a few.