DirecTV shares rose nearly 6% ($4.94 each) in after hours trading Monday after a report in the Wall Street Journal claimed the satellite giant could announce a deal with telco AT&T in the next two weeks.
The Journal first reported that AT&T had approached DirecTV about a possible deal on May 1, adding that the talks were preliminary. Those discussions apparently heated up quickly, with the paper saying the two are talking about a cash and stock deal that could value the satellite giant between $45 billion and $50 billion.
A report in Bloomberg News late Monday said AT&T could pay as much as $100 per share for DirecTV, a nearly 30% premium to its Monday close. Bloomberg said the current scenario being discussed would be for DirecTV to be run as a separate unit of AT&T under current management with chairman and CEO Mike White retiring after 2015.
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