Report: AOL bids for AT&T cable unit Malone says Liberty may get in on proposal By David B. Wilkerson, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 5:04 PM ET Sept. 7, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) — AOL Time Warner shares slipped 8 percent Friday amid a report that the diversified media giant has made a proposal to buy AT&T’s troubled broadband unit.
A spokesman for AT&T and a spokeswoman for AOL declined comment.
The shares (AOL: news, chart, profile) lost $2.81 to $32.28. AT&T (T: news, chart, profile) fell 66 cents to $17.70.
Liberty Media Chairman John Malone told CNNfn the proposal had been made, and that Liberty would consider joining the bid if such a scenario develops.
The broadband unit has been a loss leader for AT&T ever since the company purchased Malone’s TCI cable operations in 1998. Comcast (CMCSK: news, chart, profile) made a bid for the systems earlier this year, but AT&T turned that proposal down.
Several other companies are considered to be potential suitors for the cable unit, among them Walt Disney Co. (DIS: news, chart, profile) and Cox Communications (COX.: news, chart, profile).
Disney shares closed 38 cents lower at $24.11, while Cox shed 93 cents at $39.10. David B. Wilkerson is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in San Francisco.