An unsolicited takeover offer was enough impetus for Hulu to at least explore putting itself up for sale, according to initial reports in the Wall Street Journal.
There is, as with everything media-related these days, an ownership trail to follow before arriving at the sales destination. Hulu is jointly owned by Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) and Providence Equity Partners--along with Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSA) NBCUniversal, although the FCC stripped Comcast's decisionmaking power when it approved the NBCU takeover. Muddying things even more: The Journal is owned by News Corp. as well.
Anyway, once past that ownership muddle, it seems that Hulu got the bid, got excited and hired bankers to formally search for a better offer. A Hulu spokeswoman, of course, declined to comment on the story which was confirmed by "people familiar with the matter."
For more:
- the Omaha World Herald has this story
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