The current owners of online video destination Hulu will sort through binding bids received by the end of last week and hope to finalize a deal in the next week or two, the Wall Street Journal reported.
One person familiar with the sales process said that a decision and announcement may come as early as late this week, but said timing depended partly on finalizing content deals between the current owners and the winning bidder.
Representatives for Hulu and various suitors declined to comment on details of bids and the process late Monday.
Satellite TV giant DirecTV, AT&T and Peter Chernin’s Chernin Group and Billboard/THR owner Guggenheim Digital Media had all submitted binding bids by Friday, sources confirmed. The Journal, citing sources, reported that private equity firm KKR had joined the Guggenheim bid.
Time Warner Cable has previously offered to take a stake in Hulu, but it wasn’t clear if it remained in the running. Although a Bloomberg report yesterday said the company is indeed seeking a stake in Hulu.
Hulu’s current owners are Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney and Comcast Corp.