AT&T has been reportedly ready to announced the acquisition of Time Warner, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper Oct. 21 said a deal could happen this weekend.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes reportedly is willing to sell the company for the right price. Two years ago, he and the board rejected a $75 billion offer from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
AT&T, like Verizon, has been aggressive on the M&A front, acquiring satellite operator DirecTV for $49 billion last year, becoming America's largest pay-TV operator next to Comcast. Charter Communications recently finalized purchase of Time Warner Cable - a deal Comcast was prohibited from doing by regulators.
As the AT&T expands its distribution prowess, it lacks proprietary access to content, so the acquisition of Time Warner would make a good fit.