US online video-streaming service Hulu looks for buyers: report
26 Mar 2013
The owners of US online video-streaming service Hulu LLC has reached out to potential strategic buyers to gauge interest in acquiring the company, Reuters yesterday reported, citing three sources close to the company.
Walt Disney Co and News Corp own a majority stake in Hulu, while Comcast Corp gave up corporate control under an agreement with regulators over its 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal. In October 2012, Hulu paid private equity firm Providence Equity Partners $200 million for its 10 per cent stake in the company.
Walt Disney Co and News Corp are also considering others options, including whether either should buy out the other, the report said.
Hulu was earlier also put on sale and Google, Amazon.com, Yahoo and Dish Network Corp had bid in the 2011 auction, but Walt Disney Co and News Corp canceled the sale after concluding the strategic value outweighed the benefits of a sale. (See: Hulu attracts big tech firms)
Los Angeles-based Hulu is best known for free online access to popular TV shows from its strategic owners, but, in July 2010, it launched a paid subscription service as a way to expand its offerings to include TV shows from other programming partners like Viacom.
Hulu's stiffest competitor is Netflix, which counts over than 33 million paying subscribers in the US.
Hulu posted a 65-per cent rise in revenues to about $700 million since paying subscribers more than doubled to 3 million.
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