AT&T considering making bid for DirecTV within two weeks

By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor

Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

FORTUNE — With the groundbreaking merger planned between Comcast Corp (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC), AT&T (T) may make a bid for DirecTV (DTV) within two weeks, according to Bloomberg.

The price being discussed is around $50 billion.

AT&T would get a satellite television service with nearly 20 million subscribers and another way to reach customers with pay-television and Internet service. Time Warner’s acquisition of Comcast, which would equate to about 30 million subscribers, has reportedly sped up the process among other cable companies to make bold moves.

MORE: Deals of the day: AT&T eyes DirecTV

AT&T is discussing an offer that is a small premium over DirecTV’s current market capitalization of around $45 billion. DirecTV’s shares are up 43% over the past year, largely on rumors of a takeover.  AT&T’s interest in buying DirecTV was reported earlier this month.

DirecTV has teamed with Goldman Sachs (GS) as its investment bank for the potential sale. If the purchase goes through, it would surpass the upcoming Comcast and Time Warner deal — expected to be over $40 billion — by around $10 billion.