In a deal with implications for Atlanta-based Turner’s many television properties, AT&T has reached a agreement to acquire Time Warner, multiple media outlets reported Saturday.
Both companies are expected to announce the purchase as early as Saturday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported.
AT&T is expected to pay between $105 a share and $110 a share per Time Warner share in cash and stock, reports said. The deal reportedly is worth $80 billion, perhaps more.
Turner properties include CNN, HLN, TNT and TBS. A little under half of Turner's employees – about 6,000 – are based in Atlanta, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution has reported .
The deal likely would bring strong scrutiny from regulators, the Washington Post reported , because of its potential effect on competitors.
In fact, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke out against the merger.
“As an example of the power structure I am fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN — a deal we will not approve in my administration because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few,” Trump said at a speech in Gettysburg, Pa.
