The interest in acquiring the video streaming web site Hulu has attracted yet another possible buyer. The Wall Street Journal reports via unnamed sources that Apple is now considering purchasing the company. If true, it joins a number of other companies that have expressed interest in buying out Hulu who put a virtual "For Sale" sign up a few weeks ago. The story said that its source said that Apple"s investigation into purchasing Hulu was still in its early stages.
If Apple does decide to acquire Hulu it shouldn"t be a problem for the company to pay whatever price Hulu asks for. During this week"s reveal of Apple"s financial results the company admitted that it currently has a whopping $76.6 billion in cash just waiting to be spent. Many people have been waiting to see if Apple will make a major investment or acquisition.
Hulu has a number of other suitors including Yahoo, who is rumored to be interested in purchasing the company for $2 billion if it gets exclusive rights to the many movies and TV shows that Hulu currently has for four or five years. Other companies that have been kicking Hulu"s tires have been Google and Microsoft. However it was recently reported that Microsoft has decided not to put in a bid for Hulu. Meanwhile Hulu itself is doing pretty well. It recently reported that it has 875,000 subscribers for its Hulu Plus service which charges its users $7.99 a month. It expects to break the 1 million user mark before the end of the year.