Thursday, June 6, 2554

DealBook: Hulu weighs sale after unsolicited offer

HuluHulu has established itself as a Centre for TV shows and movies online streaming.

Hulu, the online video service, weighs a possible sale of the company after receiving a takeover bid by an unidentified bidder, informed on people said Tuesday.

The unsolicited bid has prompted the Council of Hulu, considering its options, and the company is talking to potential counselors, these people said. May contact potential buyers, as well as on other media companies and private equity firms who wanted the opportunity to purchase the service.

Once people warning that the Council of Hulu had not decided to sell.

Founded as a joint venture by NBC Universal, News Corporation, the Walt Disney Company and Providence Equity Partners, Hulu has established itself as a hub for streaming TV shows and movies online.

Though popular, Hulu has worked to make a profit. The company introduced a subscription service to complement its main offering free, advertising based.

A potential buyer would also consider the cost of premium content from Hulu, noted Andy Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. A giant of technology such as Microsoft or Google might be a good fit, he said, but it would be difficult.

"The difficulty of purchasing Hulu is that you are purchasing from content providers, so there's a decent chance that the cost of content eventually will rise," he said. "But if you think revenue will grow in line with the costs, so it might be worth 2 billion dollars or more."

Hulu has lost two of his most vocal supporters: Peter Chernin, former President of News Corporation and Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal, who left last fall. James Murdoch, who became Deputy Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation in March, is among those who are much more skeptical about the prospects of Hulu's business

Last year, Hulu considering an initial public offering of staging, but set aside his plans.

Representatives for Hulu declined to comment or were not available.

News of the offer at the beginning is reported by The Wall Street Journal.


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