Apple may use some of its $76.2 billion in cash and securities to bid for Hulu, a move that could represent a new threat to Netflix.
Citing two anonymous sources, Bloomberg reported that the world’s second-most-valuable company was in the early talks that could lead to an offer. Hulu could fetch $2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and SNL Kagan.
Also read: Amazon, CBS Forge Streaming Deal
Large acquisitions are rare for Apple, which most notably acquired Steve Jobs' NeXT Software Inc. in a deal that brought him back to the company he co-founded.
The acquisition talks come after Netflix announced plans to hike prices by as much as 60 percent on its unlimited streaming and “DVD by mail” businesses — and as it faces greater challenges from rival Amazon.
Amazon announced this week a new deal that will allow viewers to stream 2,000 episodes of 18 shows from the network's library. It brought the number of shows and movies available to Amazon Prime subscribers to 8,000.