AT&T open to courtship of cable TV unit-NYT
NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Despite AT&T's (NYSE:T - news) recent public statements that its cable television business is ``not for sale,'' AT&T is not only amenable to selling the unit under the right conditions but is considering and perhaps even soliciting potential deals, the New York Times reported in its online edition on Monday.
Citing people close to the company, the newspaper said on July 7, the day before Comcast Corp. (NasdaqNM:CMCSK - news) (NasdaqNM:CMCSA - news) formally made its unsolicited $44.5 billion bid to acquire the unit, AT&T Chairman C. Michael Armstrong was in Atlanta discussing a potential deal with No. 5 U.S. cable firm Cox Communications Inc. (NYSE:COX - news)
The newspaper said Cox declined to make a deal, according to these people, and Armstrong suspected that Comcast might make a bid soon, the people said.
Since Comcast made its offer, however, the range of potential deals has only expanded, the report said.
The New York Times said among the range of options now under discussion is a potential plan for AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) to spin off its own cable operation, the nation's second-biggest, into a new company that would also include AT&T's cable assets.
Some cable and media moguls are discussing the concept of forming an alliance among Liberty Media, USA Networks Inc. (NasdaqNM:USAI - news) and Charter Communications Inc. (NasdaqNM:CHTR - news), the cable company controlled by Paul Allen, to make a joint offer for AT&T's operations, the newspaper said.
An AOL Time Warner spokesman and an AT&T spokeswoman declined to comment yesterday, the newspaper said. In addition, the newspaper said a Cox spokeswoman declined to comment, while a spokesman for Charter did not return messages on Sunday.
Email this story - Most-emailed articles - Most-viewed articles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Quotes
and News: AT&T Corp (NYSE:T - news)
Comcast Corp (NasdaqNM:CMCSA - news |
