Apple is reportedly watching the potential Time Warner sale very closely, with a possible deal in the making that would see Cupertino secure the entertainment company’s impressive assets to help build up its Apple TV service.
Time Warner shares closed at $71.06 yesterday, which is far below the rejected $85 per share offer 21st Century Fox made 18 months ago. With Time Warner shares now hovering around the $70 mark, the New York Post writes that Time Warner is viewed as a “sitting duck among media companies because it, unlike its peers, doesn’t have a dual-class shareholder structure.”
As a result, shareholder pressure is on to agree to a sale, or at least to settle activist investors who are threatening a proxy fight.
Alongside Apple, other potential suitors for Time Warner include Fox and DirecTV parent company AT&T. In the Apple camp, it is Eddy Cue who is keeping tabs on what is happening, which makes perfect sense given his job of negotiating content deals.
Time Warner media mogul Jeff Bewkes reportedly met investors in several closed-door meetings Monday and Tuesday, saying he’s opposed to a deal or possible spinoff of HBO, which Time Warner owns — although hinting that a possible sale may be considered.
Given the enormous amount of content Time Warner controls, if Apple plays this correctly (which means throwing down some of its hard-earned cash), it could well be the deal that allows the company to finally launch the eagerly anticipated Apple-branded subscription TV service Tim Cook and Co. have long planned.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
7 responses to “Possible Time Warner spinoff could mean big things for Apple”
I just don’t know if Apple is willing to put down that much cash to buy as big a company as Time Warner. It’s biggest acquisition has been Beats for $3 billion. A Time Warner purchase would be many times that.
Your assumption is that they haven’t spent more because they’re cheap. I choose to think that they’ve been waiting for the right move, and this is that move. Let’s not forget that they have $180 billion in the bank….there’s not acquisition that’s too big for them.
What you are forgetting is that most of that $180 billion is overseas and they refuse to bring it back to the US until a tax holiday is instituted, so they don’t get killed with taxes. See the 60 minutes episode for Tim Cook saying this himself.
This is not about taxes. It’s about Apple positioning itself to make AppleTV more than a hobby.
Were talking about a company that can pay cash for Disney and all of is subsidiaries. Time Warner would be a drop in the bucket.
Is it Time Warner or Time Warner Cable that Apple is apparently considering acquiring?
PLEASE Apple buy TWC. Hardware is not good. UI is aweful. Service is not great. Prices are crazy!