Bloomberg : AT&T Discussed Idea Of Takeover In Time Warner Meetings

(RTTNews) - Senior executives at AT&T Inc. (T) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX) have met in recent weeks to discuss various business strategies including a possible merger, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The talks, which at this stage are informal, have focused on building relations between the companies rather than establishing the terms of a specific transaction. Neither side has yet hired a financial adviser, the report said.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has been looking to add more content and original programming as part of his plan to transform the Dallas-based telecommunications company into a media and entertainment giant.

Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes is a willing seller if he gets an offer he thinks is fair, the report said. Bewkes and his board rejected an $85 per share approach in 2014 from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox Inc., which valued Time Warner at more than $75 billion.