Perhaps it's just stovepipe conjuring during a long, harsh winter, but Inside Digital Media analyst Phil Leigh has made the case that an Apple-Time Warner Cable merger/acquisition could be in the offing.
Leigh's contention is that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is ripe to do something: It's sitting on cash, has a high stock price and the need to expand more deeply into the media space and assure a network for its multiple services and devices. Probably most convincing, he said, Apple can afford to cover Time Warner Cable's (NYSE: TWC-WI) $24 billion market value and $23 billion debt.
If it happens, he said, it would be a turnabout for a cable industry that has recently seen Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) spend $30 billion for NBCUniversal. "This underscores the golden rule that cable companies historically have executed as ruthlessly as anyone: He who has the gold rules," he wrote.
For more:
- Home Media Magazine has this story
Related articles:
Apple nails first $20 billion quarter; Jobs hints at major acquisition
Rumor mill: With $51B on hand, Apple set for a big acquisition