AT&T said to be in advanced talks to buy DirecTV for about $50 billion

5/12/2014

NEW YORK -- AT&T Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire DirecTV for about $100 per share, the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the plan being discussed, DirecTV management will continue to run the company as a unit of AT&T and DirecTV Chief Executive Officer Mike White plans to retire after 2015, said the people, asking not to be named because the information is private.

The $100 per share price values El Segundo, California- based DirecTV at about $50 billion. That’s about 29 percent above DirecTV’s price on April 30, before the Wall Street Journal first reported the companies were in talks.

DirecTV and AT&T are planning on a 12-month regulatory process, one of the people said.

Darris Gringeri, a DirecTV spokesman, declined to comment. Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.