AT&T discussed takeover in meetings with Time Warner - Bloomberg

(Reuters) - Senior executives of telecommunications company AT&T Inc (T.N) and media conglomerate Time Warner Inc (TWX.N) have discussed various business strategies including a possible merger in recent weeks, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people it said were familiar with the matter.

Time Warner shares jumped 4.7 percent in regular trading and slightly extended gains after hours. AT&T shares slipped 1.8 percent.

Neither side has yet hired a financial adviser, Bloomberg said. (http://bloom.bg/2enqBF9)

AT&T and Time Warner declined to comment.

Time Warner is attractive because of its premium cable channel HBO, the CNN news network, film studio Warner Bros and other media assets.

Telecom companies have embarked on a media land grab in recent years in order to get hold of valuable content. Cable company Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O), for example, has acquired NBCUniversal and DreamWorks Animation, turning itself into a massive force that controls not just how television shows and movies are made but how they are delivered to viewers.

Owning more content gives cable and telecom companies more leverage as customers demand smaller, hand-picked cable offerings or are cutting the cord altogether and watching online.

AT&T, which sells wireless phone and broadband services, is aggressively expanding and looking to turn itself into a media powerhouse.

It bought satellite TV provider DIRECTV last year for $48.5 billion. Barclays analysts said earlier this month that AT&T likely has its plate full with the integration of that purchase, along with other projects, which would make another large deal tricky to pull off.

Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes has not been willing to sell in the past. The company rejected an $80 billion offer from Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) in 2014.

While Bewkes, 64, was not open to a deal two years ago, the pace of consolidation in the media sector may urge him to reconsider, especially as two competitors, Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) and CBS Corp (CBS.N) have been exploring a potential merger at the request of controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone.

Talk of a deal comes as another potential bidder, Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), is busy with its purchase of internet company Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O), which has been set back by news of a massive hacking breach into Yahoo customers' email accounts.

Time Warner has a market value of about $65 billion. AT&T has a market value of about $238 billion.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru and Jessica Toonkel and Malathi Nayak in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)