DC Comics, Warner Bros. Parent Time Warner To Sell To AT&T For $80 Billion Reports Say

AT&T is set to buy Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Bros. and DC Comics, for $80 billion.

The agreement reached by between AT&T and Time Warner sets the price of the media conglomerate at $105-110 a share. And official announcement is expected as early as Saturday evening, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The purchase of Time Warner, with Warner Bros. coming along with it, gives AT&T a foot in the entertainment industry at a time when growth in the company’s core wireless communications business has plateaued.

Time Warner declined a similar offer from 21st Century Fox two years ago. That bid only valued shares of Time Warner at $85.

This buyout will marry Warner Bros. vast media library, which includes DC Comics intellectual properties, television networks like CNN, TNT, and HBO, and Warner Bros. studios to AT&T’s vast networks of streaming services and mobile and cable subscribers.

Even if the reports are true, the merger isn’t a done deal just yet. For two companies of this size to come together will require a thorough regulatory investigation.

The last time two companies of this size came together was when telecommunications giant Comcast purchased entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal. A successful merger between AT&T and Time Warner would produce Comcast’s first real rival in terms of size and scale.

What this means for Warner Bros., DC Films, and DC Comics remains to be seen. More than likely, any changes that take place behind the scenes will be imperceptible to fans on the outside, and the merger isn’t likely to go through until at least 2017.