Sources familiar with the matter told The Financial Times that Apple intends to ramp spending on original content production to the tune of “several hundred million dollars a year”. According to the financial newspaper, Apple was also interested in buying Time Warner last year.
The media conglomerate’s market capitalization is around $60 billion. According to the story, Apple’s Eddy Cue mentioned the possibility of a buyout at a meeting with Olaf Olafsson, Time Warner’s head of corporate strategy.
According to three people who were briefed on the talks, the meeting at Time Warner’s Manhattan headquarters had been arranged to “discuss other commercial relationships between the two companies, such as the potential inclusion of Time Warner’s cable channels in a future Apple video streaming service.”
But as it turned out, the two men were just exercising the buyout idea because the discussions did not go beyond a preliminary stage nor did they include CEOs of Apple and Time Warner. Still, Apple apparently has not ruled out acquiring a media company, a person close to Apple told the Financial Times.
“They’ve been on the lookout for content assets for several months,” said one of the bankers who has worked with Apple, adding that Tim Cook & Co. are looking to acquire a streaming company, such as Netflix.
Noting how Apple has already invested $1 billion into Uber’s rival in China, Didi Chuxing, and original content, the newspaper states that the Cupertino firm has plans to ramp up its budget for producing original content to “several hundred million dollars a year”.
Time Warner owns HBO, CNN and Warner Brothers, among other properties.
Source: The Financial Times